


The Lion and His Cub

by Evilbunnygirl93



Series: Spots and Stripes [1]
Category: FFXV - Fandom, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Dad!Cor, Sickfic, cor is a big ol softy, he's tries to hide it but he can't, how did this happen?, papa cor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-04-30 05:51:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14490222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilbunnygirl93/pseuds/Evilbunnygirl93
Summary: This is a story of how Cor found himself being Prompto's caregiver and how that role soon changes into being a father.This is an AU story, with all characters being feline hybrids of some sort (so ears and tails)Chapter Three: The aftermath of Niflhiem attempting to invade Insomnia has left the city mourning the death of Queen Aulea. The injuries Noctis sustained has left him unable to walk, leaving Regis to send his only son to Tenebrae for treatment. All the while Prompto's origin has been leaked causing many to aim their hate for Niflhiem at him. Cor is torn once more between his duty to the crown and his duty to be a parent.For reference:Regis, Noctis : Black JaguarsAmicita: Siberian Tiger (Gladio is a white tiger)Ignis : LeopardPrompto: CheetahCor: LionNox Fleuret : Puma/ Mountain Lion





	1. Newborn

**Author's Note:**

> So I have a new story I want to write, but I also wanted some background to Cor's and Prompto's relationship (parent and child only!). So instead of making a prologue to the story I decided to write a few short chapters of Cor's and Prompto's early life together.
> 
> This going to be part of series called "Spots and Stripes". The main story will be GladioxPrompto, Ignisx Noctis  
> (when I get to it :P)
> 
>  
> 
> For reference:  
> Regis, Noctis : Black Jaguars  
> Amicita: Siberian Tiger (Gladio is a white tiger)  
> Ignis : Leopard  
> Prompto: Cheetah

_Newborn_

 

            Cor didn’t like this one bit. The letter was smudged with blood and the writing was barely legible on the torn paper. His tail flicked slightly as he stood up and dismissed the rugged messenger to rest before leaving his office. Keeping his calm composure, Cor hurried through the citadel up to the King’s quarters. He ignored the servants and fellow Kingsguard as he passed through the corridors.

            The doors to the King’s room were slightly ajar with two guards standing outside, both slumped until Cor approached. The two young men quickly straightened up as Cor approached. He stood in front of them for a moment before raising a brow.

“Oh, right.” One guard muttered before nudging the door open and informing the King of Cor’s arrival. The kid turned back and pushed the door wider for Cor to enter inside.

            King Regis was sitting in a rocking chair, a large smile on his face as he held his son, who was wrapped in a soft looking white blanket and lazily drinking a bottle of milk. In a chair next to him, young Gladiolus Amicitia sat watching with wide eyes and a flickering white and black tail. Clarus stood behind his son watching with a smile.

            “What brings you here, my friend?” King Regis asked looking up.

Cor gave a small bow before straightening up and placing his arms behind his back. He noticed Prince Noctis’s black tail peeking out of the blanket before realizing the Prince was staring up at the new face. Cor cleared his throat. “Your Highness, there’s been a message from Leide. The refugee caravan was attacked by daemons two nights ago. About half of the caravan was lost including three of our crownsguard. They did not reach the checkpoint yesterday morning and there has been no word from them.”

            That moment Noctis pushed his bottle away and yawned. King Regis sat the bottle to the side as he stood up and carried Noctis towards a large wooden crib. Gladiolus hopped off his chair and followed. He watched as the King laid Noctis in the crib and covered him up. Gladiolus’s tail flickered as he continued staring at the baby prince as King Regis walked back with his arms behind his back.

            “How long would it take for you to get to Leide? To find them.” King Regis asked.

“Riding hard on Chocobo, two days to get there. Finding them depends on how far they got from their last known location.”

“Very well. I want you to gather a small party and find the caravan. Or what remains of it.” King Regis said the last part quietly.

“We’ll leave within the hour.” Cor said with a bow and turned on his heel to leave. Thirty minutes later, he was leading a group of five out of Insomnia.

 

 

            Five days. Like Cor predicted, it took them two straight days of riding, with minimal breaks, to get to Leide. Once there, they took a half day to rest then began searching. The next two and half days were spent searching the last known location of the refugee caravan and the immediate area. They located the burial site from the first attack that was reported, but the trail went cold until today. They were getting ready to call it when one of Cor’s men picked up a scent. They tracked it for two hours until they ended up in a gorge. The scent of blood was strong in the air.

“Why would they go this way?” Livia asked.

“Maybe they got lost?” Acteon hummed, scratching his head.

            Cor’s ears twitched as he spotted the signs of the caravan. “Search for survivors.”

The six of them split up as the approached the decimated wagons and bodies. Cor bent down to check a clawed up body. The blood around it hadn’t dried completely. They weren’t dead for long. He inspected the spotted tails, confirming these were the refugees running from Niflheim. The caravan was large even with half them killed a few says ago. They were expecting close to two hundred refugees to enter Lucis, though most were going to spread out once arriving. A few were going into Insomnia itself.

            A woman screaming caught Cor’s attention and he ran towards the sound. The screaming got louder as he approached a makeshift tent. Acteon came to his side as he opened the tent flap. Inside was a woman with a heavy belly laying down with her legs open and her body was drenched in sweat. Her arms and chest was covered in claw marks and blood. She gasped grabbing a knife and pointing it up them.

            Cor raised his hands. “We’re from Insomnia. My name is Cor, I’m a Kingsguard.”

She dropped the knife and started screaming as she threw her head back. Cor came close enough to kneel by her side. He started inspecting her injuries trying to determine what was causing her to be in so much pain. These claw marks were definitely made by daemons. Her chest was completely mutilated, and Cor noticed another set of claw marks on the side of her stomach.

            “The amount of blood you’ve lost may be fatal, but we’ll stabilize you for the trip back.” Cor said, but the lady shook her head and grabbed his arm.

“I’m going to die.” She said and placed her other hand on her stomach. “But my baby…my baby is coming. Please, help me.”

Cor sat frozen for a moment as the lady cried out in pain before leaning up to push.

            “Cor, what do we do?” Acteon asked, bringing Cor out of his own shock. Cor turned taking a deep breath. “Get Livia, and water. And any blankets you can find.”

Acteon nodded before running out of the tent. Cor moved himself to sit between the lady’s legs and lifted her dress up. Cor swallowed hard seeing the head of the baby already crowning.

“Uh… okay,” Cor said and the tent opened up to Livia. “Perfect timing.”

“Acteon said you might need help in here.” She said uncertainly.

“Sit behind… what’s your name?” Cor finally asked.

“Jana. Argentum” She gasped sitting herself up to push again.

“Livia, sit behind Jana and support her.” Cor instructed.

            Acteon returned long enough to drop off three blankets he found along with his canteen of water only to be ordered to find more. Cor continued instructing Jana when to push and when to stop and breath. Finally after what seemed like forever, Cor pulled the baby out, sitting him on the cleanest blanket before pulling the placenta out. The baby was screaming out, wiggling as Cor used a bandage to tie around the umbilical cord before cutting it. Cor washed the baby boy off before sitting him in another blanket and wrapping him up.

            “You had boy.” Cor said bringing the baby around to show Jana. She smiled softly reaching out to rub the baby boy’s cheek.

“Prom…Prompto.” She gasped, her hand dropping. With no more strength she let her eyes close. “Please,” She whispered. “Take care…of… my Prompto.”

Cor let out a soft grunt as Jana stopped breathing. Livia quickly laid her down and pulled out a phoenix down, but Cor shook his head. “It’s too late. It won’t work.”

Cor looked down at the bundle in his arms. The baby was quieter, squirming around with his ears twitching on the top his blonde head. His small spotted tail twitched only a little under the blanket. His little lips were moving and his tongue stuck out, then went back, and repeated a few times.

“We’ll need to find him food, and soon.” Livia said, using the last blanket to cover Jana’s head.

            Cor rubbed Prompto’s cheek and lips before the boy moved to start sucking on his finger. After two good sucks, the baby began to cry.

“Where are we going to find milk?” Cor asked.

“We passed a farm before entering the mountain. Maybe they have something?” Livia said.

Cor nodded and stepped out of the tent whistling for his chocobo. “I’m going ahead to get him food. Meet me at the farm once you’ve scoured the area.”

“Yes sir,” Livia stood at attention as Cor climbed the chocobo, making sure not shake Prompto too much and took off.

 

 

            The last thing Cor expected when he arrived at the farm was to be berated for asking to have cow milk to feed Prompto. The woman nearly wacked him on the head before inviting him inside. She had six kids, four outside working the farm, one too young for work so was playing with her toys and a three month old that happened to be napping at the time. The farmwoman snapped at Cor telling him he was lucky she had a baby all while making a bottle of formula for Prompto.

            He got a strict lesson in how to hold, feed, and change a baby. Along with a lecture on not feeding a baby anything other than breastmilk or formula. She noted that Prompto was a on the small, as if he was premature by a few weeks. When she asked where his mother was and Cor told her a brief, albeit less detailed, report of what happened the farmwoman became sympathetic.

            Cor went from an idiot father to a savior in her eyes in thirty seconds flat. As Cor fed Prompto his bottle, the woman stepped outside, but was back inside by the time Prompto finished. She then burped him for Cor before handing him back over with the invitation for him and his men to stay the night. Her husband would clear up the living room and make up some blankets for them to sleep on. Cor accepted her hospitality with the note that they may have some injured people coming along too.

“More the merrier.” She had said.

 

            Two people were found alive, one being a crownsguard. The caravan had been attacked in the middle of the night, and in the chaos they ended up getting on the wrong trail. When they ended up in the gorge they were attacked once more by daemons, then again in the daytime by monsters.

            They stayed for two days at the farm recuperating and getting ready for the journey back to Insomnia. The family had built a small wagon that could be pulled by chocobo so that the two injured could be easily transported.

“Here, take this.” The farmwoman handed over a tote bag. “There should be enough formula to get you back to Insomnia. I also packed diapers and a few extra clothes.”

“You didn’t have to.” Cor said.

“Nonsense. The baby needs food and you have none. Same with clothes to stay warm. I’d be ashamed of myself to not help you and your boy.”

“He’s not mine.” Cor said, but the woman only smiled.

“Perhaps not by blood.” She hummed. “Anyways, make sure he remains secured in that sling. And hold him with an arm if the chocobo gets too bumpy.”

“Yes ma’am.” Cor said with a nod.

“And you need to stop and feed him when he’s hungry. He can’t eat while riding and you can’t hold him while steering either. Remember he is a baby so you are on _his_ time not yours.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Cor said again. With farewells, and more thanks, Cor and his men headed out.

 

            It was another week before they arrived in Insomnia and Cor dismissed his group after they reached the citadel. The two survivors were being dealt with by doctors so he headed straight up to the King’s throne room. Cor slipped Prompto out of his sling, but kept a steady hold on him as he approached the throne room doors. The guards there stared wide eyed at Cor. He simply gave them a glare and they straightened their expressions before announcing his arrival. Cor walked straight up to the throne where King Regis sat, wide-eyed and mouth open as the sight of Cor holding a baby. Clarus snorted behind the King.

“Something you want to tell us.” Clarus joked. “Who did you knock up while you were gone?”

 Cor took a deep breath before giving a full detailed report of his mission. He didn’t leave _anything_ out. He only paused a moment when Prompto became fussy, demanding a bottle and so Cor had to quickly make one. King Regis watched in amazement as Cor seemed to effortlessly make a bottle of formula while still holding Prompto. Cor pushed the bag behind him before placing the bottle to Prompto’s mouth, then continued with his report.

            When he was finished, so was Prompto and Cor quickly burped him before cradling the baby once more.

“It seems you’ve had quite a time.” King Regis said. “And what do you plan on doing with young Prompto here?”

Cor looked down at the baby starting to fall asleep in his arms. “Place him into foster care.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to keep him as your own?” King Regis asked.

“I’m sworn to the crown, my life has no time for a child.”

Clarus and King Regis shared a look before the King spoke one more. “Let me make a suggestion. How about you keep Prompto for one month and decide after that?”

“Like I said—”

“Cor, think about it.” Clarus said.

“Go home and get some rest.” King Regis said then hummed. “You’ll need a crib for him.”

“Some clothes, and toys.” Clarus added. “I’ll have Jared gather everything you need take them to your house.”

“I couldn’t ask that of you.” Cor said, but Clarus raised his hand.

“Just consider it a gift to the boy, not you.”

Cor sighed. “Very well. I shall take my leave.”

            Cor gave an awkward bow before leaving the two to gossip behind him. He looked down at the little bundle in his arms yawning. Prompto’s eyes shut and his tongue stuck out a little bit. Cor found himself smiling. He looked back up spotting crownsguard staring at him. Cor put his stoic mask back as he walked past them and down the corridor.

 

            One month went by in a blink of an eye. Every day Cor brought Prompto to the citadel. When he was training new recruits, he’d sit Prompto in a little pen off to the side and let him sleep or play with some noise maker. He ended up rearranging his office to fit in a small crib for Prompto to nap and lay in while he worked. All the while, Cor researched the foster care system inside and outside of Insomnia. He was not pleased to say the least. It seemed that there was an overwhelming amount of kids in the system and not enough workers or parents to take them all. Cor had a tough decision to make. One he’d pondered every night since King Regis asked the question. Did Cor want Prompto as his own?

            By the end of the month Cor had made his descsion. Whether or not it was the right one is yet to be seen. But it’s a decision he’ll have to live with. So, here Cor was standing in the King’s chambers, holding Prompto as the King himself sat in his rocking chair holding a sleeping Noctis.

“What brings you here?” King Regis asked with a knowing smile.

“I’ve decided. I will keep Prompto and raise him, but I will do it my way.”

“As is your right.” King Regis nodded.

“I will not have you or Clarus over my shoulder telling me what am doing wrong or right with him.”

“Suggestions will be taken into consideration I hope.” King Regis said.

“I will raise Prompto, but he will not be my son. I will not be his father.” Cor said sternly. “I will not hide his adoption from him. I will make it clear that he is not a Leonis, but an Argentum. This is the best possible path I can take for him.”

“And why is that?” King Regis asked. “Why not be a father, instead of a caregiver?”

“Because.” Cor said softly. “I am a Kingsguard. My life is put on the line every day. There is no telling when I’ll die and when it does happen…Prompto may not be hurt as much.”

King Regis stared at Cor for a long minute before nodding. “Very well, that is your decision Cor and I cannot change it. However, if you feel you’ll start neglecting him emotionally, inform me at once so that I may take him from you and give him a family that will love him.” Cor glared at King Regis who only smiled. “I have no doubt that you will soon find yourself calling Prompto your son and him your father with ease.”

            Cor opened his mouth to protest, but Regis raised his hand. “We will see who is right in due time. Go on now. I need to spend time with my family. Aulea will be back soon and I rather have my attention on her and Noctis than on your inexperience as a father.”

Cor scoffed. “You’ve only been a father for what, two months now?”

“Still more than you.” King Regis laughed. “Go on with you. Spend some time coddling Prompto.”

            Cor gave a bow and left the King’s chambers. With a huff Cor looked down at Prompto, who was staring wide eyed at Cor. Cor gently rubbed his finger over Promto’s soft cheek and the baby made bubbles with his mouth. Cor let out a small chuckle. Okay, so maybe he could get used to this part of being a parent.


	2. One Year Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto is turning one and while Cor only wants to sleep, Regis is hellbent on making this a memorable birthday for the both of them. While Cor is being forced to plan the party with King, Prompto is kidnapped.

_One Year Old_

 

            It had been a tough year with training new recruits, maintaining standards with old ones and taking care of a baby. Cor felt perpetually exhausted and it showed in his dark eyes and his shorter temper. Prompto was a handful most days and even more so now that his teeth were coming in. He needed a vacation. Instead he was here, passing or rejecting the new recruits into the official crownsguard.

            Cor waited for the next recruit to sit down before opening the folder on his desk. Prompto was in his play pen against the wall playing with his chocobo ball giggling and making other noises. Cor had become accustomed to having Prompto in his office while he worked, but somedays he wished he’d leave Prompto with a sitter. Cor cleared his throat pulling out the paper he was looking for.

“Matthias, you passed your physical, hand-to-hand, and weapon combat skills with high marks.” Cor said, noticing the smirk on the other lion’s face. It was a smirk that carried the smugness the man had for himself. “Unfortunately, you failed the psych evaluation.”

The man’s smirk dropped slightly but didn’t vanish. “Listen, Cor I’m one of the top candidates for a Crownsguard position, hell I bet I’d make Kingsguard in no time. You’re going to allow a small test to stop one of your best students from entering the crownsguard?”

“Yes.” Cor didn’t hesitate. “Physical strength isn’t everything, Matthias. A strong mind is also needed. Yours is not. Your answers were all over the place and there were highlighted areas that may show potential defiance towards authority, betrayal of authority, and lack of empathy towards victims. That being said, failure to any one test does not allow admittance to the crownsguard.

            “Then let me retake the test.” Matthias snapped. “I’ll pass it.”

“The psych test cannot be retaken. Matthias, I hereby dismiss you of your training and deny recruitment into the crownsguard.” Cor said signing off on the rejection paper only for Matthias to slam his fist onto the desk as he stood up. Cor looked up at him calmly as Matthias growled, his ears folded back.

“That bitch failed me on purpose. She hated me the moment I stepped into her office. I demand a retake with a different proctor.”

Prompto started crying from his play pen and Cor slowly stood up eyeing Matthias. A low growl came from the Marshal’s throat.

            Just then, the door opened up, but Cor refused to take his eyes off of Matthias. He could tell by the smell that Clarus had entered and soon King Regis had followed. Only then did Cor break eye contact to bow to the king.

“Your highness.” Cor said.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.”  Regis said.

“Not at all, we were just finishing.” Cor said glaring at Matthias. “Gathering your things and leave the citadel.”

Matthias tsked before turning to walk out, but stopped as he neared Prompto’s play pen. Cor’s hair rose and he reached for his sword leaning against his desk. Cor let out a growl, baring his teeth. Matthias ignored him and the King, earning a death glare from Clarus.

            “Show respect to your king.” Clarus snapped.

Matthias bowed slightly before storming out of the office. Cor relaxed, letting out a deep breath before walking to the door and shutting it. The remaining recruits will just have to wait. Walking back to his desk, Cor stopped to pick Prompto up from his pen and carried him along.

“Bo.” Prompto pouted. Cor quickly grabbed the chocobo ball in the play pen and handed it to Prompto who, held it with both hands long enough for Cor sit at his desk. Prompto squeaked dropping the ball and watched as it bounced off Cor’s desk. Prompto wiggled reaching for the ball so Cor sat him on the floor. Tears long gone, Prompto happily giggled chasing the ball as he crawled around the desk.

            Regis let out a chuckle as he sat down in the chair across from Cor. “He’s grown quite a bit. Has he stood yet?”

“Yeah, and he’s starting to pounce as well. But he won’t walk no matter how much I try to coax him.” Cor rubbed his eyes. “He loves chasing that ball though.”

“I see.” Regis said watching Prompto move behind the desk and Cor. “If I remember correctly, Prompto will be turning one in a few days. Do you have any plans in mind?”

For a moment Cor was silent before slowly rubbing his hand down his face then looked at Regis. Clarus rolled his eyes. “Please don’t tell me you forgot his birthday.”

A light pink hue appeared on Cor’s cheeks. “Of course not. I just wasn’t planning anything.”

“You have to celebrate his first birthday.”  Regis said. “Have a little party for him here at the citadel. I’ll bring Noctis, and Clarus can bring Gladio. Scientia’s nephew has moved in with him and can come along too. It’ll be a good little gathering for the young ones.”

“Prompto’s one, not ten.”

            “It’s never too early to get him around children his age.” Regis said. “Besides the first birthday is a big deal for any parent.”

Cor leaned back in his chair giving the king a tired glare. “I’m not—”

“Yes, yes not his father.” Regis waved his hand. “So shall Aulea and I plan it or will you? I already have an idea for a theme.”

 “Your highness, I app—” Cor grunted, his eyes going wide and hair standing up as his teeth clenched down. Both Regis and Clarus were startled, but then Cor turned his head as he lifted his tail up in the air. Prompto was hanging on the end by his mouth and small hands. Prompto let out a muffled ‘meow’ as his tail wagged back and forth.

            With stern look, Cor grabbed Prompto under his arms and said, “No.” Cor then tried to gently tug his tail from Prompto’s mouth, but Prompto simply nibbled on it some more, pressing his sharp fangs deeper. “Let. Go. Now, Prompto.”

Prompto loosened his bite and Cor was able to pull his tail free sitting Prompto down in his lap. He could hear the king and Clarus snorting, trying not to laugh, but failing. Prompto let out small meow as he reached up and grabbed Cor’s shirt to help himself stand up. He then proceeded to reach up, his claws coming close to Cor’s eye. He gripped Prompto’s hand, then lifted Prompto up. The cheetah let out a chirp as he reached to grab for Cor’s ears, but Cor pulled him away and sat him gently on the floor.

            Before Prompto became interesting in Cor’s tail again, the Marshal located the yellow chocobo ball and rolled it across the floor. Prompto chirped before pouncing the ball and rolling to the side with it.

Regis let out a chuckle. “He’s full energy.”

“Give it five minutes, he’ll be sleeping on the floor.” Cor said rubbing his tail. “It’s going to look like I have mange soon.”

Regis gave a chuckle as he revealed his black tail from under his cloak. The end of it had missing clumps of fur and scabs. “When Noctis isn’t sleeping, he likes to play with my tail. Nothing else seems to entertain him for long.”

“Gladio was the same.” Clarus sighed then mumbled. “I have the scar to prove it.”

            “So I was thinking of a chocobo theme for the party.” Regis said moving on from tails to the party. “Couldn’t be too hard to get a chocobo here for the big day. The kids will love it.”

“He won’t remember.” Cor sighed rubbing his eyes.

“No, but you will. You may not be thinking about it now, but ten, fifteen, twenty years from now, you’ll be remembering his little smiles and how much he’s grown.”

“You’re talking as if your already know the feeling.” Cor said.

“I do.” Regis said softly. “When I look at Noctis, I can’t help but think of Aulea holding him over his first birthday cake and it’s only been two months. Trust me Cor, first birthdays are important. They are the celebration of a new life in this world, of the first year of a person’s life, and how _you_ got him there. It may be for Prompto, but it’s for you as well.”

            Cor felt his pants being tugged, and he looked down to see Prompto rubbing his eye. He reached down to sit Prompto in his lap once, this time though, the little rascal cuddled up against Cor’s chest. Cor petted Prompto’s head as his eyes began to close.

“Fine.” Cor finally gave in. “I’ll let you _help_ plan the party.”

“I knew you’d see it my way.” Regis said happily standing up. “Come by midday tomorrow and well start discussing plans for the party. I’ll let you get back to your recruits.”

“Your highness.” Cor gave small bow, not wanting to disturb Prompto who had quickly fallen asleep.

            After the King and Clarus left, the next recruit nervously stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Cor threaded his fingers through Prompto’s hair as he pulled the recruits file out to discuss his test results. For a moment the words seem to blur together so he sat the paper down and looked at the young prodigy before him. The only thing preventing him to joining the crownsguard was his age.

“Nyx Ulric,”

The blue eyes held the fierceness of the small, but strong coeurl tribes outside of Lucis, however his eyes also showed his youthful inexperience. “Marshal.”

Cor sat down the papers, unable to really read them, but it didn’t matter he knew all of Nyx’s results by memory. “Top of your class in every category. You passed all your tests with flying colors. Strong morality, supporting of peers in combat training and in the classroom, strong will, but still immature. You weren’t allowed to take the psych test.”

            Nyx shifted in his seat. “Yeah, the lady said I had to wait to do it.”

 “Why do you want to join the crownsguard? If I’m not mistaken, two other galahd children came with you.”

Nyx nodded. “King Regis saved me. Saved us. I just want repay him, to protect what he holds dear like he did for us. For my family.”

            Cor held his smirk. “You’re too young to join the Crownsguard. I cannot allow any exceptions, but what I can do is continue your training. You won’t hold the title, not until you’re eighteen, but you can enter the crownsguard training program if you want as a student. Or you can return home, and come back when you’re old enough.”

“I may not be able to return if I wait.” Nyx said quietly. “But I have no way of staying here.”

“I’ll sign off on you living in the barracks and I’ll assign a job for you that works around school and training.” Cor said. “I want you in my crownsguard when you’re older, Nyx. You have skills that many can’t even achieve with years of experience. You’d be an essential asset to the king.”

At the statement, Nyx gave a large smile. “Thank you, Marshal. But…Crowe and Libertus…”

Cor tapped his desk. “They have to make their own decisions, but I see no reason why they can’t join you if that is what they want.”

Nyx nodded. “We made pact to stick together. All three of us.”

Cor gave a nod and started feeling a yawn coming on. “I’ll sign off for them as well after their evaluations. For now, you’re dismissed, Nyx. Tell the others that I’ll resume the results tomorrow morning, first thing.”

“Yes, sir.” Nyx said standing up. He gave a bow before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

            Finally alone, Cor gave out a long loud yawn. Prompto shifted, making a small chirp as he buried his face more into Cor’s chest. Slowly, Cor stood and walked to his couch where he laid down, careful not to disturb Prompto’s sleep. However, Prompto let out small chirp before lifting his head only to wiggle himself up under Cor’s chin and curl up again. Once he was sure Prompto was asleep, Cor shut his eyes allowing himself a moment of rest.

 

            The next day came faster than what Cor would have liked. Prompto had ended up being awake most the night either from playing or crying from another tooth coming in. Cor didn’t get but a few hours of sleep at best. With ten more recruits to go through and a fussy Prompto, Cor found himself wanting to murder something. The urge grew stronger as he was sitting with the King in his chambers as ‘they’ planned Prompto’s party. More like the King was setting everything up and Cor was listening. Cor was sure the King wanted an excuse to see some chocobos himself since he couldn’t just go out any time he wanted to anymore.

            Prompto had been sat on the floor to play with Noctis, but neither were really interested in the other. Noctis was chewing on a toy fish while Prompto had his chocobo ball rolling only to find his interest landing on Cor’s tail again. He crawled to it and batted at the furry end only for Cor to gently tap him on the head with it. Prompto’s eyes dilated before hopped on the moving tail and bit down. Cor let out a startle growl before lifting his tail and Prompto in the air.

            “No, Prompto!” Cor snapped. Prompto’s eyes watered and he quickly let go of the tail. Cor let out startled noise as he caught the cheetah before he fell to the ground. Prompto let out a loud cry and Cor’s ears flattened as he brought Prompto to his chest, but Prompto pushed away digging his claws into Cor’s chest making him grunt.

“Here.” Regis reached over the desk. Cor hesitated before handing Prompto over. The king cradled Prompto as waved his black tail in front of his face. Prompto sniffled and started batting at the King’s tail.

Cor let out a soft sigh slumping in his chair.

            “I think you need some rest.” Aulea said from couch by the wall. Cor had forgotten she was even in the room. She had been quietly watching the two boys playing since they arrived. “Why don’t we take Prompto for the night, so you can get some sleep?”

“Oh, the boy’s first sleepover!” Regis lit up. He didn’t even flinch when Prompto bit his tail.

“I appreciate the offer, but Prompto is teething and he’s been cranky over it.” Cor said. “Besides he’s my responsibility.”

“Every parent needs a break.” Aulea said standing up. “I know how you feel. I was a nervous wreck when Noctis stayed with Clarus for the first time, but I needed time with my husband and we both needed sleep.”

“It will be fine Cor.” Regis said. “Go home and get some rest, we’ll look after him for a night for you.”

Cor looked at Prompto nibbling on the King’s tail and closed his eyes with a deep breath. “If you insist. I doubt you’d let me leave with him anyways.”

            They both chuckled and Aulea picked Noctis up, who had decided the floor was a perfect spot for a nap. “Go on Cor, you’ve earned it.”

“I’ll need to bring you some of his things.” Cor said, giving in.

“That’s alright, he can borrow some of Noctis’s clothes and toys.” Aulea said cradling Noctis in her arms. Cor gave her a nod before standing up. He looked down at Prompto, who was still preoccupied with the king’s tail, and gave a small smile.

“Very well, I shall take my leave.”

“You want to tell him goodbye.” Regis asked ready to hand Prompto over, but Cor shook his head.

“He’s content right now. I’ll pick him up in the morning.”

“I can watch him tomorrow as well.” Aulea piped in. “That way you can focus on getting his party ready. You can join us for dinner tomorrow night and take him home then. Besides, I think the play date with Noctis will help wear him out.”

“Are you sure?” Cor asked.

“Absolutely, now go on. Go home and get some rest.” Aulea ordered. Cor gave a bow to her, then to the King before leaving, only looking back to see Prompto staring right at him. Cor left the room, and within two steps he heard Prompto start crying. Cor fought the urge to go back in and hold the boy, but he managed to take another step and another until finally he was out of the citadel.

 

            The walk home was almost a blur. It was still daylight out as he went inside his home, made his way to his bedroom, changed into a pair of shorts and plopped onto his bed. Cor took in a deep breath. The peaceful silence was unnerving for some reason. He turned onto his back, spotting the chocobo plushie Prompto nuzzled when he slept. Cor grabbed the plushie and brought it to his chest with one hand, picking up Prompto’s scent on it. He let out a soft sigh. It wasn’t quite right, but it’ll do for now. It took longer than expected for Cor to fall asleep, but when he did, he didn’t wake up until late the next morning.

 

            Cor felt more rested today than he has in the past month, but that didn’t seem to help how off he felt. As soon as he woke up, he got dressed and headed out towards the citadel. It didn’t take him too long, but when he made it inside, he went past his office and straight to the king’s chambers. He knocked on the door trying to wait patiently as his ears picked up on the sound of crying inside. He was getting ready to knock again when the door opened up to a tired looking king holding a crying Prompto, who coughed then looked up at Cor. Immediately, Prompto reached his arms out whining as he made a grabbing gesture with his hands.

            Cor took Prompto in his arms and placed him against his chest. Prompto’s crying quickly turned into a heavy sniffle as he cuddled up in Cor’s arms.

“That boy has some lungs on him.” Regis said. “He’s been crying all night Aulea had to take Noctis into another room. Is he always like this?”

Cor shook his head. “He cries for at most a couple of hours before going to bed. But never the whole night.” Just as he spoke, he petted Prompto’s head, finding the boy fast asleep.

“I guess he just missed his father then” Regis chuckled and Cor gave him a dirty look.

“Is there somewhere I can lay him down?” Cor asked. Regis waved for him to follow as he turned around. Cor was led past the study and into another room where a made up sat with a crib nearby. Cor laid Prompto down, but the little cheetah began to stir and whimpered out. Thinking quickly, Cor took his jacket off and covered Prompto up with it. Prompto curled up in the jacket burying his in head in the fabric, content.

            Both men held their breaths as they walked out of the room quietly shutting the door, before they relaxed. They waited a moment in case Prompto woke up, but it remained silent. A small chuckled caught there attention and they turned to find Aulea standing there with Noctis looking sleepily at the wall.

“My, what powers you have, Cor.” She whispered.

“Those of a father.” Regis added.

“Your highness.” Cor grounded out.

“I’m just saying.”

“Don’t you two have work to do today?” Aulea asked. “I’ll watch over Prompto. When he wakes up I’ll bring him right to you, Cor.”

“Thank you, your grace.” Cor bowed his head. “Your highness, I hope you got plenty of sleep. We’re going to have a busy day today.”

 

            A busy day it was. Between Regis and Cor’s normal duties and directing how the ball room was to be decorated. Plus sending out invitations to close friends, and any crownsguard with children, much to Cor’s dismay. Scientia and his nephew, who Cor found out his name was Ignis, were leading the real planning. Regis and Cor told him what each wanted, Scientia was already ahead of them. Ignis simply followed his uncle quietly, watching everything with keen eyes, but not making a sound. The three year old was more behaved than Gladio, that’s for sure. Cor was certain he was an alien. The little leopard simply didn’t act his age.

            Regis and Cor got into a couple of arguments through the day. Who was being invited, how many people were to come, the size of the cake, the shape of the cake, what presents were allowed, no presents at all, how many chocobos there were going to, absolutely no chocobos, and on and on and on. Scientia would settle each argument with his own suggestion and claiming it to be final. Most of which fell towards the King. The only thing Cor won was how the cake would be. If it was going to be Chocobo themed it was going to be a cake shaped like a chocobo, not a white one with chocobos running around each layer.

            “This is not a royal banquet, your highness.” Cor grounded out pinching the bridge of his nose. “We don’t need to plan for so much food.”

“Agreed.” Scientia said before the king could interject. “I have a menu already laid out for the chefs. There is no need to make this overly extravagant.”

“It already is…” Cor mumbled.

“I just want there to be plenty of food for your guests.”

“Your highness.” Cor sighed. “Prompto is not a prince.”

“No, but you are my dear friend, and I want this day to be perfect for the both of you. You deserve it.” Regis said softly placing a hand on Cor’s shoulder. “I know you can’t see yourself as a father, but you—”

 “Your highness!” A man in a Kingsguard outfit ran in. “An intruder broke into your chambers, your wife—”

He didn’t finish before Regis warped to the other side of the room, running down the hall with Cor and Clarus running after him.

            They quickly made it up to the King’s chambers. Two guards were lying on the floor, bleeding, so Cor took a moment to check on them as Clarus went inside. One was dead, the other unconscious. As more guards came running, Cor left the injured man in their care and went inside. It looked as if a whirlwind came through the King’s chambers. The desk had been smashed, books and papers were scattered across the floor. Cor walked past into the bedroom where Regis was hugging his wife, prince Noctis being held between them. The windows in the bedroom had been shattered, leaving glass all over the floor. A rope was tied to the bed and hanging out the window.

“Cor.” Aulea gasped.

“Are you harmed?”

“No, but…” Aulea pulled away, heavy tears running down her cheek. “He took Prompto.”

Cor felt his whole body freeze. He shook his head running to the crib where his jacket laid, but no Prompto to be seen.

            “He must have thought Prompto was Noctis and took him from the crib. I... I tried to stop him, I am so sorry Cor.” Aulea’s voice broke as she fell to the floor. Cor took a shaky breath, clenching and unclenching his fist.

“You did what you had to.” Cor said. It hurt, but he knew Noctis was more important than Prompto. “Can you tell me what happened, your grace?”

Aulea sniffed. “I was feeding Noctis when I heard yelling outside the door. I took Noctis into the bedroom and I heard the door open. I heard him throwing things around in the study so I placed Noctis under the bed. I tried to get to Prompto, but the man came in.” She took a deep breath. “He was wearing a Titan tribal mask… he had a knife…I… Prompto started crying. The man ran to the crib and grabbed him. I started screaming for guards and I grabbed the man’s hair. I punched him, but he knocked me off.”

            At this point Regis was beside his wife seething. Cor stayed motionless listening as she continued. “He pressed the knife against Prompto. I begged the man not to hurt him. He made me tie a rope to the bed so he could climb out the window.”

Cor quickly looked out at the broken window and found the rope was long, but nowhere near long enough to scale all the way down the building. About eight floors down, another window was broken. Cor spun on his heal and ran towards the door. “He’s still in the building!”

Cor heard several footsteps behind him as they raced to the stairs and went down the floors. Cor jumped each landing in one leap. His hair rising and ears lying flat. He bore his teeth kicking open the door eight floors down. He ran out sniffing the air trying to pick up Prompto’s scent.

            “Marshal!”

Cor turned around. “Crowe.” The young coeurl girl was sitting against the wall holding her knee. Libertus next to her unconscious. Cor made his way to her and knelt down. “What happened?”

“We were studying in the library and heard yelling. We followed it and saw some masked man killing a kingsguard.” She said pointing to the door across from her. “We tried to stop him but… Nyx went after him. He had Prompto.”

“Which way?” Cor snapped. Crowe pointed down the hall and Cor patted her head before taking off. “Stay there, help will come soon.” He shouted back. Regis and Clarus were on his heel.

            Running down the hall, Cor picked up Prompto’s and Nyx’s scents and followed them down the stairs. They kept going not seeming to get any closer to Prompto until finally they reached the last floor. The pushed through the doors to be greeted with a screaming Nyx rolling on the floor covering his eyes. The man wearing the Titan mask was standing feet away with Prompto in his arms, crying. Clarus grabbed Nyx and dragged him back behind them, telling him he was safe.

            The man turned to run, but found himself cut off from his exit by Drautos, standing by the door. Cor roared as he stepped forward. “Let Prompto go.”

The man turned around placing a knife to Prompto’s cheek and Cor stilled, letting out a low growl. The man cocked his head, swinging his tan tail behind him. “I always thought the Immortal had no weaknesses, but boy did I find a good one.”

Cor’s ear twitched at the muffled voice. He took a moment sniffing the air and it dawned on him. He let out another roar. “Matthias!”

            With a chuckle, Matthias removed his mask and tossed it to the side. He looked down at Prompto who was wiggling to get free from Matthias’s hold. Matthias dug his claws into Prompto, making him scream more.

“Put him down and fight me like a man.” Cor snapped.

“As if I’m that stupid.” Matthias said placing the tip of the knife to Prompto’s chest. “No I’m going to take the most important thing from you just like you did to me.”

“Matthias—”

“Shut up! Being in the Kingsguard was my dream! Everyone was expecting me to make it, everyone! _And you humiliated me!_ You have no idea what it’s like for everyone to look down on you for failing. But you will.” Matthias said. “Kill the king or I’ll kill your son.”

Cor’s breath caught in his throat. The knife was pressing into Prompto’s little body, but not enough to do any harm. It wouldn’t take much more though. Cor’s body began to shake.

“Time is ticking. Turn around and kill your king or I shove this knife into Prompto’s little beating heart.”

            Cor heard Clarus move behind him, no doubt placing himself between Cor and Regis. Tomorrow, Prompto was supposed to turn one. Cor shut his eyes and turned around, tears rolling down his cheeks as he clenched his fists as he remained motionless.

“Wow, you are heartless.” Matthias laughed. “You’d let a child die for some man.”

Cor clenched his teeth before opening his eyes and spinning around with a roar. Without hesitation, Cor charged forward, his teeth and claws elongating, ear flattening and tail curling up. Matthias took a couple of steps back, unprepared for the attack. He tossed Prompto to side. Cor felt his heart stop as Prompto landed and screamed out, but then he saw nothing but red.

            Red in his eyes, on his hands, on the floor. The taste of copper was bitter in his mouth as he seemed blink a red sheen out of his eyes. Matthias was laying on the floor his throat practically gone and his chest wide open. Cor raised his shaking hands up to look at the bloody mess. A hand on his shoulder made him flinch and he swung around to find Regis standing there with Prompto crying in his arms. Cor reached for him, but stopped staring at his own red hands again. Regis grabbed his cloak and ripped a large piece off to place over Cor’s bloody arms.

            Cor’s breathing hitched as Regis placed Prompto in his arms. His little arm was crooked and he had a cut on his forehead. “We need a healer.” Cor managed to gasp out.

“Clarus went ahead to inform them of the situation. Come now, Drautos will take care of things from here.” Regis softly ordered.

            Everything seemed like a blur to Cor. The trip up to the healers, having Prompto taken from him again although with reassurances nothing would happen when he started growling. Even Clarus helping wash the blood off seemed distant. He barely registered a stab wound on his chest being stitched up. He’d feel it later, he was sure of that. Afterwards he was given a potion to help with the healing. By the time he was becoming more aware of everything, Prompto’s crying had started sounding like distressed meows. It pained Cor to be unable to do anything other than sit by and wait to the healers to finish.

            In the meantime he checked up on Nyx and his friends. Crowe had a sprain knee, Libertus a concussion and Nyx had his eyes wrapped up. Matthias a thrown pepper powder in his face. He’ll be in pain for a day or so, but he won’t lose his eye sight. For that, Cor was thankful.

            It seemed like forever before Prompto was back in Cor’s arms again. The cheetah quickly grabbed Cor’s shirt with his good hand while his other arm remained still, sitting in some sort of cast. Prompto’s forehead had already started to bruise, the cut had been stitched and was now wrapped up. Prompto let out small whine curling up against Cor’s chest. Cor held him closer.

 

 

            Cor did not want to have this party. He just wanted to be home watching Prompto sleep. Regis insisted it would be good for them both, that theywould cut the amount of people coming in half if that made it better. Scientia insisted the birthday boy be there as it was a very special occasion. Cor had the damn party.

            Prompto was skittish the whole time, not wanting to leave Cor’s arms. Nobody said anything about his broken arm or bruised head. Word probably already got around. The older kids played around while the younger ones stuck with the parents. As Cor walked around greeting people who came, he noticed Gladiolus walking with him. Finally he knelt down in front of the four year old.

“Don’t you want to play with the other kids?”

Gladio shook his head and pointed at Prompto. “Dad says I’m an Amicitia. Amicitias are shields. That means I got’s’to protect him.”

Cor chuckled. “Your job is to protect the prince. That isn’t Prompto.”

“But he is important. Cuz he is your son.” Gladio said looking up at Cor. “I have to protect him, too. That’s my job. I have to protect people who are important to me.”

“And why is Prompto important to you?” Clarus asked from behind him.

“Because Prompto is small and needs someone strong to protect him.” Gladio puffed out his chest.

“That’s my job.” Cor chuckled lightly, but Gladio shook his head.

“No, _your_ job is to protect the King with dad. You can’t do both!” Cor frowned tightening his hold on Prompto, who started waving his good arm out towards Gladio. Gladio smiled taking Prompto’s hand, making squeal in delight. “He likes me!”

Cor felt the familiar wiggling of Prompto wanting to be put down, so he obliged. Prompto sat on his butt and seemed to study Gladio’s face. Gladio sat down. “Hi Prompto, I’m Gladio. I’m going to protect you and the Prince.”

“Hey now, how can you protect both of them if Cor is supposedly unable to protect his son and the king?” Clarus asked.

“I am awesome that’s how.” Gladio said matter-of-factly earning a deep chuckle from Clarus as Cor straightened back up.

            “My what a little party we have going here.” Aulea and the king walked up. Aulea happily placed Noctis on his feet so he could walk over and sit next to Prompto and Gladio. Gladio smiled up at the adults.

“I’ll watch them you guys can go do adult things.”

Everyone but Cor chuckle, but he gave a small smile. Before too long though Noctis decided he was bored and stood up. He walked a couple of feet before falling and deciding to crawl away.

“Wait come back Noctis!” Gladio shouted and stood up to chase him, but then looked at Prompto. His white tail tensed and his ears peaked up as he looked torn between staying with Prompto and going after Noctis. Gladio put his hand out to Prompto.

“Stay.” Gladio said and chased after Noctis. It was supposed to be cute and funny, in fact everyone that was watching laughed. All but Cor. He saw in that little moment Prompto’s life. He’d never be first choice. Maybe second, but never first. Cor watched as Gladio followed Noctis seemingly forgetting about Prompto, who still hadn’t learn to walk and with his arm messed up, he couldn’t crawl. Prompto let out a small meow before curling up. Cor moved to coddle him, but he heard Gladio shout.

“Prompto, hang on I’m coming.” Gladio quickly ran back and sat next to Prompto patting his back. “Please don’t cry. I’ll be right back I have to get Noctis.”

            Gladio stood back up looking between Prompto and Noctis again and shifted like he was about to start crying himself.

“Oh dear.” Aulea chuckled. “I think Gladiolus bit off more than he could chew.”

“I’ll help.” A soft voice spoke up. Cor barely picked up on it. They all watched as Ignis got behind Noctis and picked him up, then carried him back over to the little group and gently sat him down. Gladio pouted, but Clarus quickly patted his son’s head.

“You did good.”

Gladio gave a smile and turned back. “Noctis, Prompto, this is Ignis.”

Ignis gave small nod as his spotted tail flicked once behind him. Prompto chirped and reached for Ignis’s tail, but Cor quickly intercepted him and picked him up. “Why don’t we do the cake?”

“Cake!” Gladio and Ignis shouted in excitement. Ignis’s cheeks became red, but he kept his smile.

“Ca!!!” Prompto shouted and laughed. Noctis yawned and laid back, but Aulea quickly picked him so he wouldn’t fall asleep.

            They gathered around as royal chefs rolled out a life sized cake of a chocobo sitting down with small fat baby chocobo next it.

“Bo! Bo!” Prompto pointed with his good hand and wiggled about in Cor’s arms. “Bo!”

Everyone laughed as the baby chocobo was plated whole then placed on the table. Cor gently sat Prompto down next to the plate where he squealed smacking his hand on the yellow frosting. He meow bringing his hand up to look at the frosting. He opened and closed his hand before putting a finger in his mouth then laughed. He pressed his hand into the cake once more getting into the sponge. Cor stepped in, taking a small piece and placing it to Prompto’s mouth. He nibbled on the cake while bouncing and laughing.

            Soon enough the pieces were distributed and eaten. All that was left were the presents. Cor sat on the floor with Prompto in his lap as he helped open the gifts. Prompto now had six chocobo plushies, four knew balls varying in sizes, ten new outfits, and a block set. Gladio came up next with his gift for Prompto which was small wooden sword so he learn to protect himself with the declaration that Gladio would teach him. Ignis gave him four books for Cor to read at bed time. Noctis, watching everyone, wanted to join apparently. He waddled over, carrying his toy fish and placed it on Prompto’s lap before sitting down in front of them.

“Ish.” Noctis pointed. “Ish.”

Prompto proceeded to started chewing of the fish getting a clap from Noctis. Cor reached behind him and grabbed the last bag. He pulled out a small yellow hat with wings and sat it on Prompto’s head. Prompto chirped happily chewing on the fish.

“One last gift.” Regis announced.

Cor stood up looking at the smiling king with narrowed eyes. “Your highness?” He asked lowly.

Regis looked so smug when the doors opened and loud kweh sounded.

“BO!” Prompto shouted as two Chocobos were lead inside. The kids started screaming, jumping up and down as the two birds were lead inside. The kids were being restrained by their parents for the moment so that the birthday boy could see them first.

            Cor groaned. Regis actually managed to get chocobos here on time. Prompto kept shouting ‘bo’ over and over, so Cor finally gave in. He carried Prompto over, and with the go ahead from the owner, sat Prompto the back of the bird. Prompto gasped as placed his hand on the yellow feathers. His eyes shone bright and his smile went from ear to ear.

“Bo!” Prompto giggled looking up at Cor.

Cor smiled gently rubbing Prompto’s back. “That’s right, you’re on a chocobo.”

“With hair to match.” Clarus chuckled eliciting more laughter from the people around them but Cor ignored them. He was too busy watching Prompto smile.


	3. Five Years Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Niflhiem attempting to invade Insomnia has left the city mourning the death of Queen Aulea. The injuries Noctis sustained has left him unable to walk, leaving Regis to send his only son to Tenebrae for treatment. All the while Prompto's origin has been leaked causing many to aim their hate for Niflhiem at him. Cor is torn once more between his duty to the crown and his duty to be a parent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I upped Lunafreya's age from being nine to fifteen so that she was closer to Nyx's age. (i hadn't realized they were eight years apart in the series. I thought they were closer in age until i looked it up)

_Five Years Old_

 

            Insomnia was crying. Three days have gone by since Niflheim attacked Insomnia and it hasn’t stopped raining. Everyone believed the Astrals were mourning the death of Queen Aulea and the injuries Prince Noctis sustained. As Cor stared over the damaged city, he wondered just how they won the battle that dealt so much destruction and death.

            “Hey Cor,”

He turned seeing Nyx standing at attention behind him. He was surprised to see the young man walking around so soon after being stabbed in the stomach. “What are you doing leaving the medical wing?”

“I’ll go back in a little bit. I just…I needed to get out of there for a moment.” He said walking up to the window. “Libertus fell asleep so I snuck out. Crowe will kill me for it, but I just couldn’t lay doing nothing anymore. So boring, it’s driving me crazy.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re allowed to leave the medical wing. Go on, get back there before Crowe finds out and hunts you down. Or else the healers will have more work cut out for them.”

“Yeah, okay,” Nyx sighed and went to turn, but stopped. “How’s Prompto doing?”

“He’s okay, why do you ask?”

Nyx seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment before speaking up. “Listen, take this from an outsider. Keep a close eye on him. People can already tell he’s not Lucian. If they find out where his tribe was from, they may not be so kind to him anymore, even if you’re his…adoptive parent.”

            Cor closed his eyes. The thought has been on his mind for a couple of days now. “Thank you for your insight. I will watch over him as I always have.”

“Of course. I’ll take my leave now, Marshal.” Nyx said and walked away.

It was another thirty minutes before Cor left his spot and headed down to the classrooms. It was more like a daycare for the children, but Cor had to enroll Prompto once he was able to walk and eat on his own. Cor couldn’t keep him in his office all the time. He made his way to the empty hallway to the large Play room. It was made for days like this when it was raining outside. The room was like any typical park you would find outside with jungle gym, trees, swings and so on. He spotted Prompto sitting by himself on top of large boulder.

            As Cor approached, Prompto’s ears perked up and he stopped picking at whatever had his interest up there to look down. His face lit up and quickly jumped off the boulder.

“Daddy!” Prompto yelled and Cor reacted quickly to catching him. Prompto latched onto him with a tight hug and Cor sighed, pulling Prompto away to sit him on the ground.

“What have I told about calling me that?” Cor said gently.

Prompto’s head immediately dropped and he spoke quietly. “Not to.”

Cor nodded. “Come on, let’s go home.”

“’K” Prompto said keeping his head down, but Cor lifted his chin up.

“Do you know why I don’t want you calling me that?”

“Because you’re not my dad.” Prompto said with a shaky voice.

“Right.” Cor patted his head. “But I still love you.” Prompto simply nodded. “Come on, let’s head up. The King asked if we could visit Prince Noctis.”

Prompto smiled and nodded. Cor took Prompto’s hand and noticed a light bruise on his arm, so he quickly knelt down and inspected it. It looked like someone’s hand had squeezed him.

            “What happened?” Prompto only shrugged so Cor asked once more.

Prompto rubbed his toes on the ground and started mumbling. “Mrs. Pax… she held me up by my arm and told everyone not to play with me. She said I was the enemy. That my tribe killed the Queen and hurt their parents.”

“Is that why you’re alone up here?” Cor asked, trying to contain his anger.

Prompto nodded and showed his scraped up elbow. “I tried playing with my friends, but they pushed me out of the tree. Mrs. Pax said I deserved it.”

            Cor took a deep breathe before gently picking Prompto up and walking over to Mrs. Pax, who was a middle aged woman talking with a parent of twins. Cor had no problem interrupting them.

“Mrs. Pax I need to speak with you.” Cor snapped, glaring at the two. The other parent ushered their kids away, leaving them to speak alone.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Leonis?” She asked sweetly.

“Prompto told me that you held him by the arm and told the kids he was the enemy.”

She scoffed. “I did no such thing. Your boy has been quite the trouble maker these past few days. I refrained from speaking to you about it because of the stress you must be going through, but he has trying to get the other kids in trouble. I’ve repeatedly told him not to climb the trees and told him he’d be in time out, so he’s blaming his friends for pushing him out of trees when he simply fell. He is a poor climber after all.”

“Care to explain the bruise on his arm?” Cor snapped.

“His arm got caught in the branches and he was hanging there for a minute or two before I could get him down. I understand as a parent you’ll believe your child…oh, sorry I mean as a caregiver you’d feel the need to take Prompto’s word over mine, but rest assured he’s just telling stories for attention.”

“Cor,” Prompto looked up at him with watery eyes. “You believe me, don’t you?”

            He did believe Prompto, but he knew that, however unlikely, Mrs. Pax could very well be the one telling the truth. Prompto was bad at climbing and he was often hurting himself over his own clumsiness. However he would always laugh it off. It was possible Cor wasn’t giving him enough attention as of late. Nyx’s words hung in his head, but he couldn’t not accuse Mrs. Pax of abuse when she also had valid reasons for the bruises. He’d have to look into it further. “Thank you for your time, Mrs. Pax.”

“Anytime, Marshal.” She said bowing her head.

            Cor started walking out when Prompto started pushing away wanting to be put down, so he obliged. Cor reached his hand out expecting Prompto to take it like he always did, but he didn’t.

“Prompto,” Cor started.

“You don’t believe me.” Prompto sniffled with his head down.

“I’m going to look in to it.” Cor said, “Let’s go see Noctis.”

 Cor once again offered his hand, but Prompto refused it for the first time and started walking next to Cor instead.

            They made it to the medical wing in silence until they reached the Prince’s private quarters. Four guards stood outside his door and stood at attention for Cor, but he noticed them eyeing Prompto.

“The King asked for Prompto to visit Noctis for a couple of hours, so I’ll be leaving him here in your care. Is that clear?” Cor snapped, with a stern glare. The men all swallowed hard and nodded. “Good.”

One guard opened the door to the Prince’s room. It was comfortable to say the least. It looked like Noctis’s bedroom with a queen size bed, toy chest, couch and chair set off to the side. In the middle of the bed, Noctis sat leaning against some pillows with his father sitting on the edge talking in hushed tones. The King sat up and greeted them with a smile.

“Prompto, I’m so glad you came.” Regis stood and knelt down in front of the cheetah. “Noctis has been quite down. I hope you don’t mind keeping him company for a little bit.”

Prompto shook his head. “I don’t mind.”

“Thank you.” Regis patted his head. “I have to take Cor away now, so it’ll be just the two of you. Noctis can’t get out of bed so you may have to play up there okay.”

“Okay.”

“Good.” Regis stood up and Cor knelt down next.

“I’ll be back soon to take you home, alright. Be good now.”

Prompto gave a nod, not looking Cor in the eyes. Cor let out a deep sigh before standing back up. Regis walked out with Cor following, leaving Prompto alone.

 

            Prompto stayed in his spot for some time in the dead quiet room before he finally walked up to the bed. With some effort and climbed up on it and sat there. He noticed a few toys sitting around Noctis along with a tray of food, but everything seemed untouched.

“Noctis, are you okay?” Prompto asked.

Noctis glared up at Prompto. “Why are you here?”

“B-because Cor dropped me off. To play.”

“I don’t want to play with _you._ ” Noctis snapped. “Get out.”

“But Cor told me to stay here.” Prompto said. “Why don’t you want to play?”

“I can’t. My legs don’t work anymore.” Noctis clenched his covers.

“Why not?”

“I got hurt!” Noctis yelled. “Your tribe hurt me! They killed my mom!”

“I’m sorry.” Prompto mumbled.

“Sorry? I don’t have a mom anymore!” Noctis cried grabbing a wooden dog and throwing it, hitting Prompto in the head. Prompto let out a whimper and rubbed the spot.

“Why did you do that? It hurt.”

“Good.”

“Good?” Prompto whimpered, tears building up in eyes. “Why are you mad at me?”

“Your tribe did this!” Noctis yelled tears rolling freely down his cheeks. “They _took my mom away from me!”_

Prompto started crying. “I… I’m sorry, Noctis.”

“Sorry? How can you be sorry? You don’t know what it feels like to not have a mom anymore. You never had one in the first place! You don’t even have a dad!”

“I’m sorry.” Prompto cried again.

“Get out.” Noctis ordered, but Prompto didn’t move so he threw a stuffed cat at him. Again Prompto didn’t move. Noctis grabbed another toy and threw it and when that didn’t work he reached for the small bowl of soup on his tray and threw it on the floor. “Guards!”

            The door swung open and two of the men rushed in. “Your highness what’s wrong?”

Noctis glared at Prompto. “He threw my toys at me because I didn’t want to play. Then he threw my soup on the floor. I want him out!”

Prompto whimpered, but didn’t get a chance to say anything before a guard grabbed him by his hair and pulled him off the bed. Prompto screamed out clawing at the man’s hand as he was dragged out of the room, then thrown on the floor.

“Get out of here brat!” the guard snapped. “Nobody wants you here!”

            Prompto curled up pushing himself away until he was able to stand up and run down the hallway. He cried as he ran, not really sure where he was heading, but he just kept going until he ran into something. Or somebody. Prompto fell back on his butt and looked up to see Gladio helping Ignis off the floor, both glaring at him. Half of Gladio’s face had a bandage on it, mainly covering his eye. For some reason that made Gladio even more intimidating than usual.

“What are you going here?” Gladio snapped and Prompto flinched.

“I-I’m sorry.” He whimpered out standing up on his own. He stepped closer only to get a growl from Gladio making him flinch.

“Gladiolus, what are you doing?” Ignis asked. “He said sorry.”

“Are you kidding me? He’s a cheetah from Niflheim!” Gladio snapped. “His tribe killed the queen and hurt Noctis. Hurt my dad! _Killed my mom!”_

“But he didn’t.” Ignis said.

“Gladdy, I-I’m sorry.” Prompto whimpered, stepping closer.

“Don’t call me that. We’re not friends anymore! I’d never be a Niff cheetah’s friend, especially _you!_ Get away from us. _”_

“But Gladio,” Prompto cried reaching out for Gladio’s hand. “What did I do?”

“I said get away.” Gladio snapped swing his arm out to push Prompto back. Prompto cried out feeling a hot pain his shoulder as he fell to the ground. He looked down at his torn shirt and the bloody claw marks on his shoulder. He grabbed his shoulder pushing himself to his feet.

            “Prompto!” Ignis gasped moving towards the younger boy. “Gladio you hurt him.”

“So!” Gladio snapped, tears running freely down his cheek. “My dad got hurt a lot worse.”

Prompto took a step back seeing the hatred Gladio had in his eyes. It was the same way everyone looked at him now. He didn’t understand. Why did everyone hate him now? What did he do? Prompto quickly spun around and started running, ignoring Ignis’s call for him to come back. He ignored the people he passed and he made it to the stairs. He should have gone up to Cor’s chambers, but he went down. He wanted to go outside. Away from these walls where people hated him and were mean to him and didn’t believe him.

            So he ran and ran until he was pushing the doors to the citadel open and he ran some more only trip on the stairs and roll down them. He slid to a stop in a puddle as the rain continued pouring down. Prompto slowly stood up on shaking legs, gasping for air. He sniffled as he started walking, his tail dragging along the ground. There wasn’t anybody outside. Nobody to glare and throw things at him. Nobody to be mean or not believe him. Only him.

            As he walked on he spotted the playground he, Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis would play at on the weekends. There was a jungle gym and statues of lions, tigers, and other felines. Prompto slipped under one of the lions, the one that always reminded him of Cor. Big, strong and proud. Prompto curled up underneath, the rain still hitting him because of the wind. Prompto stared at his tail. It was because he was a cheetah that nobody liked him. Prompto didn’t know anybody else that had the same tail. Cor’s was tan with a tuff of fur at the end. Gladio’s was white with black stripes. His dad’s was orange and black. Even Gladio’s baby sister had an orange and black tail. The King and Noctis had black tails with spots, but those were hard to see. Ignis had spots, on his tail, but they were different that his. His where actually spots where Ignis had two shaded spots. Plus Prompto had rings at the end.

            If only he wasn’t a cheetah, then maybe people would like him again. Prompto grabbed a tuff of fur and yanked it. He let out whimper, but stared at the tan bloody skin. So he pulled some more fur out. It hurt and made him cry but maybe…maybe he could look more like a lion, like Cor, instead of a cheetah.

 

 

            Cor hated leaving Prompto alone with Noctis, neither seemed to want to be there. But the king insisted Noctis be around a friend. Cor was sure Regis also needed time away from everyone. Of all the people close to Regis, he was the only who didn’t get hurt during the invasion attempt. There was a certain guilt in his chest for being unharmed. Aulea was killed protecting Noctis, who was injured and may never walk again. Clarus earned a new scar on his chest, one that he claimed to be proud of since he gained it protecting his King. Then there was Gladio, who had been left home with his new baby sister and their butler, Jared. Crownsguard was there to protect them, but one Niflheim soldier made it past and to the family. Gladio watched his mother being killed before he fought the Niff off to protect his sister, but almost lost his eye doing it. Of course Nyx and his friends did what they could. Nyx earning a stab wound to the stomach for his efforts.

            What did Cor get? Nothing, not even a scratch. Prompto didn’t even get hurt because he’d been hiding their chamber in the Citadel. That was one decision he was grateful for making. Regis had insisted a long time ago that Cor had a chamber of his own in the Citadel, but he refused it until Prompto got a little older. It was just easier to carry him up a few floors than down a few streets. So they had moved in. He found out his old house had been destroyed in during the invasion attempt. Even then it wasn’t much of a loss, he had no more ties with it.

            Regis had led them to his chambers where they sat inside by the desk. Regis, finally out of everyone’s sight, slumped dropping his head into his hands. A sight Cor rarely saw himself and was thrown off by it, but he knew the King was mourning. He was as much human as everyone else.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Cor.” Regis said softly. “With Aulea gone…

“You’ll get through this, Regis. You’ve always been able get through the toughest times.” Cor said.

“This is different.” Regis sighed, seeming to hold back his tears. “I lost the love of my life, my son is crippled, and my closest friend is lying in bed recovering from what could have been a killing blow.”

“And here we are, unharmed.” Cor added.

“And here we are.” Regis repeated straightening up. “They could be readying another attack as we speak. Our forces—”

“Are as strong as ever.” Cor stated. “Our overall causality rate was low and theirs was high. Our resolve is stronger than ever to fight back. They killed civilians, hurt our families, and destroyed our homes, but they did not win. They _will not_ win this war.”

“No they will not.” Regis said bringing his hands together. “They will regret this attack. We’ll be on the offensive. I’ll be sending troops across Lucis, to take back the lands that Niflheim has invaded. I will only leave enough men here to defend the city. In the meantime I need you to take Noctis to Tenebrae.”

“Your highness.” Cor started, but Regis held his hand up stopping him.

“You are the only one I can trust to protect my son. The Queen of Tenebrae may be able to heal Noctis, help him walk again. Tenebrae has been pushing Niflheim forces back for months now, and will hide Noctis there for the time being.”

“And if Tenebrae is taken?”

“There will be an escape plan for you and I expect that you will make contingency plans as well. If the war turns in our favor we shall join forces with Tenebrae on the battle field in Niflheim.”

“How long will we be there for?” Cor asked.

“Until it is safe for Noctis to return home.” Regis said.

“You’re saying I am to stay there with him for an indefinite amount of time?” Cor asked already knowing the answer.

“Yes.”

            Cor shut his eyes. Memories of his choice between saving Prompto and killing his king came rushing back all at once. He couldn’t do that again. “Prompto comes with me. With tensions high, I can’t trust anybody to look after him. Not right now.”

Regis smiled. “I figured you would make that request. As did Clarus and Scientia. They want you to take Ignis, Gladio and Iris as well.”

It was Cor’s turn to slump back. “Me versus five kids. The Astrals must be playing a joke on me.”

Regis chuckled. “Jared will be accompanying you to assist with the children. And you will select three crownsguard you trust to go as well. I cannot allow a bigger group.”

“Three?” Cor hummed. “Do they have to be crownsguard?” Regis raised an eyebrow so Cor continued. “The Galahd children.”

“I thought Nyx was injured.”

“He was, but he was also walking around this morning because he was bored. Obviously it’s not that bad.”

Regis nodded. “If you deem him healthy enough, then I’ll allow it.”

“Right. When do we depart?”

“Nightfall.” Regis said.

“Nightfall?”

“A risk I know, but you’ll be going to the southern docks. Take a boat to Altissa, from there a ship will be sailing to Tenebrae. I have already booked a cabin for all of you.”

“One cabin, for all of us?”

“It’s a nice one.” Regis reassured. “Will you accept this task that I’ve burden you with my friend?”

Cor stood up and bowed. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“Thank you.” Regis said softly, “You’ll have the day to gather supplies for the trip. Jared has already been informed has readied the Amicitia family. Scientia has prepped everything for Ignis as well. That leaves just us.”

“Do the boys know?”

“Ignis may be the only one. Clarus should be telling Gladio soon. I was going to tell Noctis, but I thought it would be best if we told our boys together. That way I can cry on your shoulder when Noctis tells me he hates me for the tenth time.”

“He doesn’t hate you, Regis.” Cor said.

“I know, but it still hurts to hear him say it.” Regis said standing up. “Shall we?”

            Cor nodded and headed to the doors, opening it up for them. They walked side by side.

“There is matter I had wanted to look into.” Cor said, then told Regis what happened with Prompto and Mrs. Pax earlier that day. Regis had hummed and stopped to think.

“That does sound odd for Prompto to act that way.” Regis said.

“I was thinking the same thing. But I can’t go around accusing her of hurting Prompto especially if it didn’t happen.” Cor sighed. “I believe him though.”

“I will have Scientia investigate it while you’re away. Although I don’t know if it will bear fruit or not.” Regis said as they approached the Prince’s room. Cor noticed three of the four guards trembling. Regis seemed to have noticed it as well. “Are you alright?”

The three looked between each other not really wanting to answer it seemed.

            “You’re King asked you a question.” Cor snapped and all three tensed up looking at the fourth guard who seemed unfazed.

 Finally he looked to the king and simply stated. “We did as the Prince told us, Your Highness. They’re just too afraid of Cor to say anything.”

Cor narrowed his eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“The prince ordered us to remove Prompto from the room.”

“Where is he?” Cor growled.

“He ran off.”

“Yeah after you scared him.” Finally one of the other spoke up. The kid, Cor remembered him being new, swallowed hard. “The Prince called for us and said Prompto had been throwing toys at him then one of his bowls. He ordered us to take Prompto out. Theo grabbed Prompto by the hair and dragged him out before throwing him on the floor.”

Cor growled grabbing the guard, Theo, by the neck and slamming him into the wall. “You did what?”

“Y-your Grace!” Theo stuttered looking towards the King, who was also glaring.

“Answer the question.” Regis snapped.

“Yes, yes I threw him out! He was harming the Prince.”

“ _He’s a child.”_ Cor roared. “ _You don’t throw him around!”_

“Cor.” Regis said sternly. Cor growled pulling his hand away letting the man breath and ignoring the puncture wounds he had left. “Go to the healers then report for guard duty on the gates.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Theo coughed walking away.

            Regis went inside Noctis’s room and Cor followed knowing to leave his temper outside for now. After all, Noctis was just a child as well. The Prince spared them both a glance before looking down. He was fiddling with a small wooden chocobo when Regis sat on the bed.

“Noctis?” Regis hummed. “What happened between you and Prompto?”

Noctis shrugged eyes watering up, so Regis moved to lay next to his son and pulled him into a hug. Noctis sniffled wiping his eyes. “I thought Prompto was my friend.”

“He is.” Cor said, but Regis gave him a look telling him to shut it. So he stepped back and just listened.

Noctis his head. “No he’s not. His tribe attacked us. They killed mom and they hurt Gladio and Uncle Clarus. They hurt me.”

“But Prompto didn’t do any of that.” Regis said softly.

“His people did.”

“We’re his people.” Regis said. “Prompto was born in Lucis. He’s being raised by Cor, one of the kingdom’s most loyal men. Prompto is a part of us.”

“But he’s a cheetah from Niflheim.” Noctis started crying.

“Who told you that?” Cor ask softly. He shared a look from Regis. Very few people knew Prompto was from the refugee caravan and all his files say he was orphaned in Leide, but is from the Disc of Cauthess where the last two Lucian Cheetah tribes exist.

            Noctis sniffled. “Mrs. Pax. She came by and told me Prompto was here secretly, that he was bad. Part of the enemy troops that killed mom. He’s how they got in.”

Cor and Regis shared a wide eyed look. Cor gasped. “How many people has she told this lie too? How many of the children.”

“Go find Prompto.” Regis ordered. “I’ll clear this up with Noctis.”

Cor nodded before running out of the room shouting for Prompto’s name. The guards all pointed in the direction he took off in and he started running shouting for him.

            The first sign of Prompto was blood on the floor. He sniffed the area of the hallway and picked up on Gladio and Ignis’s scents as well, but they went different ways. Cor followed Prompto’s scent down the hall and all the way down entrance. He stepped out to the pouring rain and Prompto’s scent vanished.

“No. Prompto!” Cor yelled running down the steps, but from there he had no idea where to start. He called out Prompto’s name several more times walking further from the citadel. He tried sniffing the air, but he couldn’t detect anything but the rainfall.

 

            Two hours passed before Cor returned to the Citadel, simply to see if Prompto had come back on his own, but there hadn’t been any sign of him. Cor ran his fingers through his hair before leaning against the wall and slumping down. He didn’t know what else to do.

“Cor what are you doing?” Crowe had come up to him holding a tray of dirty plates.

“Prompto’s missing.” Cor gasped out. “I can’t find him…I don’t know what to do.”

Crowe sat down next to him. “What happened?”

“So fucking much.” Cor sighed.

“Was he taken again?” Cor froze. “Or did he run away?” Crowe asked quickly.

            “Some people saw him run outside, why would any adult just let him run out there on his own. He’s only five. And I can’t find him.” Cor took a deep breathe trying to hold in his tears.

“Was he mad at you?”

“I don’t know, maybe. I found a little bit of his blood on the floor, not enough to be fatal, but enough that he’s hurt.”

“Then he’s scared.” Crowe said. “If he’s hurt then he would be scared and if he ran from here, then this place is what caused his fear, right. So where would he go where he wouldn’t be afraid?”

Cor shook his head. “Our old house is gone, he’s know that so it wouldn’t be there. His scent led only here, not up towards our chambers. He would always come to me, but he was upset with me today.”

“Okay,” Crowe hummed. “When I was younger I ran away from my home. My dad had just died and I got into a fight with my mom. I ended up going to our favorite hunting spot that he and I would just spend the whole day at. Whether or not we actually hunted or caught anything; that was our spot. My mom appeared out of nowhere and sat with me. She had known where I was the whole time because it was a special spot I shared with my dad. So, Cor, do you guys have a special spot that the two of you share?”

“We don’t really go anywhere. He’ll sit in the training room and watch us sometimes. Eat dinner with the king every once in a while. Sometime we…” Cor’s eye widen and he jumped to his feet. “The park.”

            Cor ran out the door without another word and down the steps. He couldn’t believe he didn’t check the damn park. It didn’t take him long to reach the empty park, swings were blowing in the wind as the rain came down harder. He yelled Prompto’s name searching the jungle gym inside and out. He was on top of it when he looked at the statues and saw a figure underneath one of the lions. Cor jumped off in one leap and ran to the statue slid to a stop as he knelt down. Prompto was curled up in a ball his tall had chunks of fur missing from it.

“Prompto,” Cor said softly, carefully scooping Prompto up in his arms. He was soaked to bone and shaking. Blood from his shoulder and tail was being washed away by the rain, but was still flowing out.

Prompto’s eyes opened up. “Daddy?”

“I’m here.” Cor said kissing Prompto’s head noticing the globs of fur laying under the statue and the fistful Prompto still had in his hand. “Let’s get you inside and warmed up.”

 

 

            Cor kicked the door open the medical wing startling the people inside. “I need a healer!”

One of the older ladies ran to him as Nyx pulled away from the healer re-bandaging his wound. Cor allowed the woman to take Prompto from him and Nyx walked up.

“Cor, what happened?” Nyx asked.

“I’m about to find out. Do not leave his side.” Cor ordered. “Crowe, Libertus, with me now.”

The two quickly got up and chased after him until they were in the hallway where Cor spun around. “Gather your and Nyx’s things. Pack for a few weeks and meet me back here in an hour.”

“Yes, sir!” They shouted and took off. Cor started walking away, he needed to make another stop.

            Cor entered Clarus’s room without so much as a knock. Jared was holding Iris while Ignis and Gladio sat on the floor playing a game. They had suitcases off to the side, ready to leave. Clarus sat up in his bed with a frown.

“Cor?” Clarus’s voice raspy from sleep.

Cor ignored him and pointed to Gladio and Ignis then wiggled his finger. “You two here now.”

Both stiffened, but followed the order.

“Cor.” Clarus growled “What is going on?”

 Cor merely crossed his arms. “What. Happened?”

Both boys swallowed hard, but Gladio spoke up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…I mean I did, but I didn’t.” Cor glared waiting for him to continue. “I was just so mad and I only meant to push him, I-I-I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

“Gladiolus, what did you do?” Clarus asked, fully aware that his son did something wrong.

“I told Prompto to get away from me and wouldn’t so I pushed him… I didn’t realize my claws were out and I … sc-scratched his shoulder. I’m sorry I was just so angry, I hadn’t realized what I’d done.”

            Clarus rubbed his face before looking to Cor. “How bad is it?”

“I don’t know yet. He was still bleeding when I found him not too long ago.” Cor keeping eye contact with Gladio. “What did you say to him?”

“I just…I told him I wouldn’t be friends with a Niff cheetah. That …his people hurt dad.” Gladio mumbled looking down. “I didn’t mean to hurt him… I just didn’t want him near me anymore.”

“Who told you he was from Niflheim?”

“Mrs. Pax.” Ignis said softly. “She told all of us.”

“He’s from Niflheim, isn’t he?” Gladio asked softly.

Cor looked to Clarus who simply had his eyes closed shaking his head. “His mother was, but Prompto was born here in Lucis.” With that Cor turned around to walk out the door, but stopped. “Once Prompto has been treated, we’ll be leaving for Tenebrae. I’ll come get you when it’s time so stay here.”

Cor shut the door behind him hearing Clarus snap at Gladio to do a hundred push-ups. That wasn’t nearly enough.

 

 

            Cor stopped by his chambers to change into some dry clothes. He packed a bag for himself and Prompto, making sure put his favorite chocobo plushie inside. Once he packed their bags he carried them down to the Prince’s room, but left them outside as he entered. Regis was still inside, but sitting in chair next to the bed. Noctis was sleeping. Two bags were sitting next to a wheelchair in the middle of the room.

“I found him.”

“Is he okay?” Regis asked.

“He was hurt. He’s with the healers now. Gladio clawed him, and…and I think Prompto pulled his own fur off his tail.”

“What?” Regis gasped looking up.

Cor nodded. “I don’t know for sure, but his tail was in bad shape and he was holding his own fur.”

            “Noctis lied to the guards about Prompto throwing things at him. I spoke with him, cleared things up. He’ll apologize to Prompto, but I told him he would need work to become a better friend, to earn Prompto’s forgiveness. This wasn’t something he could say sorry for and have everything be okay. He hurt his friend and he needs realize that.”

“I don’t know if Prompto will forgive him, or Gladio. It’ll be a while before I do.” Cor said turning around and looking up to keep the tears from falling. “They hurt my son, Regis.”

“Cor…” Regis gasped.

“It’s almost time.” Cor said quickly. “Get Noctis ready, I’ll bring everyone here.”

“Very well.” Regis said and Cor left the room. Once outside, Cor leaned against wall coming to terms of what he just said. Prompto was his son. Cor wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. Yes Prompto was his son and he needed Cor more than ever right now.

 

 

            Clarus refused to stay in bed and accompanied the small group to the small ship at the docks. It was pitch black out, not even the candles were lit on the boat. They didn’t want anybody seeing them leave. Clarus kissed Iris on the forehead before handing her off to Jared then pulled Gladio into a tight hug, ordering him to be good and to do whatever Cor told him without complaint. He watched as Jared took his children aboard the ship. Regis pushed Noctis up giving his farewell on the ship itself as the Galahd children dealt with everyone’s luggage. Cor waited for Regis to come back down from the boat before turning to both him and Clarus to bow.

“I will protect the Prince and the children with my life.”

“May Astrals watch over you.” Regis gripped Cor’s shoulder then looked down at Prompto, sleeping in his arms. “and your son.”

Cor tightened his hold on Prompto before straightening up and boarding the boat without a second glance back. He went straight to his cabin and laid Prompto down on the bed. His shoulder and tail had been wrapped in bandages and was given light pain medicine so he could sleep. Cor rubbed Prompto’s cheek remembering what Prompto had said earlier in the medical room. He just wanted to be like Cor. To be loved. But his tail made people hate him.

            Cor sat on the floor against the side of the cabin wall and dropped his head. The ship was moving with the waves lulling him into dream like state. They would be in Altissa before the sun rose and on the next boat before noon tomorrow. He just had to wait until then to rest, so he stood up and left the room to patrol the ship until they arrived.

 

 

            Everything was on schedule. They arrived in Altissa’s port on time, waited for the ticket gate to open where Cor picked up all their tickets and made sure each had one. They then had to wait until their boarding time in a couple of hours. Noctis of course wanted to fish on the pier and the others wanted to spend time swimming. Kids. Cor kind of forgot that Nyx and his friends were still teenagers, but they promised to keep an eye out, so Cor agreed. The only problem was that Prompto didn’t want to leave Cor. At all. He didn’t want to be put down or talk with anyone. Cor had to accept it for now and just carried him no matter how tired his arms got. He sat on the dock with Jared and Iris watching Noctis fish and could also see the others swimming nearby. It almost seemed like a vacation. Almost.

            The time came and went, and they had to board the ship. They were give a nice cabin with a crib and four beds which worked out because Cor planned for him, Nyx, Crowe, and Libertus to take shifts in watching the kids on the journey. They settled into the cabin with Noctis taking claim to one of the beds, Gladio and Ignis plopping down on another. Jared carefully laid Iris on one of the beds while he prepped the crib for her. Nyx stood outside the door while Crowe and Libertus checked the ship out. Cor laid Prompto down on the last bed and he let out soft meow, Cor gently rubbed his head to comfort him.

Cor hummed. “Your warm, are you feeling okay.”

“My shoulder hurts.” Prompto whispered curling up. His tail came up to his head and he grabbed the tip. Cor patted his head again.

“Okay, hang on.” Cor said digging through his bag. The healers gave him some pain medicine for the trip he just had to find it. He pulled the small vile out and uncapped the top only to put his thumb over most of it. “Open your mouth.”

            Prompto opened up and Cor let two drops fall in before telling him to swallow. He recapped the vile and sat it back in his bag then covered Prompto up. He stood up to find Noctis, Gladio and Ignis watching him.

Cor cleared his throat. “Jared, help keep an eye on Prompto if you could.”

“Certainly.” Jared said placing Iris in her crib.

“I’m going to walk the ship, Nyx will be outside the whole time, so why don’t you boys get some rest.” Cor said walking out of the room. He needed some fresh air. It was going to be a long trip.

 

            That night, Cor was awoken by soft whimpers and a weak cough. It took him a moment to realize it was coming from Prompto. Cor sat up in his bed and placed his hand on Prompto’s forehead finding him hotter than before. He quickly lit the candle on the table between their beds and checked over Prompto. He was flushed and breathing hard.

“Is everything alright?” Jared asked from his spot on the bed.

“No, Prompto has a fever, can you go get some water. I need to get him cooled off. Jared quietly, but quickly left the room. Cor removed Prompto’s shirt and checked under the bandaged on his shoulder to look for any signs of infection, but found none. He checked Prompto’s tail next but didn’t find any signs there either. He’d just have to keep an eye out.

            Jared returned quickly along with the ship’s doctor who lit the room up some more waking everyone except Noctis. The doctor looked him over and determined it to be a simple cold. Cor would need to keep him cool and away from the other passengers to avoid it being spread around. The ship had limited medicine, but gave some to Prompto and would check on him once a day to see if he needed more. That didn’t sit well with Cor at all. None of this did. He had five kids, and three teenagers to look after. Now, one of them is sick and they’ve only been gone for a day.

 

 

            One day, turned to three then four and Prompto’s fever only got worse. His coughing was keeping everyone awake and it was to the point Cor had to request a sick bed for Prompto isolated from everyone else. Cor was torn between his duty to the prince and his duty as a father. Jared offered to sit with Prompto when Cor needed to rest or needed to take his shift guarding the prince. It pained to leave Prompto every time, but he had to. They couldn’t get to Tenebrae fast enough.

            They had one more night before they reached their destination. Cor switched with Nyx and headed to the sick bay to relieve Jared from Prompto side.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get some rest first?” Jared asked. “I don’t mind sitting with him for a few more hours.”

“It’s fine Jared. Thank you.” Cor said.

“Dad…dy” Prompto’s raspy voice called out and Cor moved to sit next to him.

“I’m here, Prompto.”

“Daddy…” Prompto started crying. “…don’t feel good…”

“I know, but we’ll be landing soon, okay. We’ll get you some better medicine, so you just hang in there ok.” Cor said petting Prompto’s head.

“Daddy…” Prompto reached out and Cor carefully scooped him up in his arms and started rocking him.

“You’re going to be okay.” Cor whispered closing his eyes. “You’re going to be okay.”

            The next morning, the horn sounded alerting the ship’s arrival. Cor had been up all night with Prompto when he heard the horn. He wrapped Prompto up in the blanket and carried him back the room where he found everyone ready to go. He led the way to the deck where people were starting gather to disembark. Cor cut around people getting in line ignoring their glares as he got to the front. Where the guards were getting ready to let people off.

“Sorry sir, you’ll have to get in line like the others.”

Cor pulled out an official document with his name on it. “I’m Marshal Cor Leonis, Kingsguard to King Regis, here on a diplomatic trip for the king. Princess Lunafreya and Prince Ravus are awaiting our arrival. I don’t wish for them to be held any longer than need be.”

The people around started whispering as the man looked over the paper and nodded. “Very well, Marshal. We’ll have you off this ship as soon as it’s safe to dock.”

“Thank you.” Cor said returning the document to his pocket. He checked behind him find Noctis with a hood over his head and surrounded on all side by his men. Gladio took Iris so that Jared could hold Prompto when they got off. Cor needed to have his hands free from this point on.

            Once the gate opened up Cor was first off the boat followed by the prince then the kids. He spotted Lunafreya and Ravus standing with a large group of guards along with two dogs standing by the princess’s side. Behind her a woman with long black hair and dress stood. He approached them, but stopped not wanting to get too close to startle the guards.

“Princess Lunafreya, Prince Ravus, thank you for receiving us.” Cor said bowing.

Lunafreya stepped forward with a smile. “It is good to finally meet you Marshal and Prince Noctis.”

Cor stepped aside as Noctis pulled his hood off. He gave a small smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well Princess.”

A raspy string of coughs caught their attention and Cor quickly moved to Jared taking Prompto away from him. Prompto wheezed trying to breath.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Lunafreya said.

“He’s been sick the whole trip.” Cor said.

“We’ll take him to my mother at once.” Lunafreya said leading the way.

            On the way up to the Tenebrae castle introductions between everyone was made. Tenebrae was the main home to the Puma tribes, so most of the people here are of the same decent. Pumas ability to reign the mountains in the area is what has given the advantage over Niflheim forces, pushing them further back than expected.

            Once they were inside the castle the Queen was waiting patiently to greet them, but before she could, Lunafreya ran up to her.

“Mother, Prompto’s sick, he needs help.” Lunafreya tugged at her mother’s arm. Queen Sylva watched as Cor stepped forward cradling his son.

She reached out and Cor handed Prompto to her. “He is quite ill. Luna run ahead a prep a bed in healing room for Prompto here. Ravus show our guests to their rooms for now.”

“Nyx, stay with Noctis.” Cor ordered.

“Follow me.” Ravus said keeping his hand behind his back.

Cor turned to Sylva and she guided him through the castle halls until they reached a healing room vastly different from the Citadel. This one had plants hanging everywhere and comfortable beds laid out in rows whereas the in the Citadel it was plain with hard beds to lay in. Sylva placed Prompto down on the bed and sat in a chair next it.

“Luna, crush up some poppyberries.” Sylva ordered while she picked a leaf off a plant and placed on to Prompto’s mouth. “Suck on this, child.”

            Prompto took the plant in his mouth and his cough stop almost instantly. Sylva felt his fever, then ordered another healer to bring water. She removed Prompto’s shirt and checked his wounds finding them infection free. She grabbed a jar with a green ointment inside and dipped some out.

“This is going to sting.” Sylva said. She placed the ointment on the claw marks and Prompto cried out biting down on the leaf in his mouth. Hot tears poured down his cheeks, but his face soon relaxed and he was taking wheezing breathes. Sylva placed another leaf, this one larger with red veins, over the wound. “This wound is very deep, so it’s going to leave scar. I wished he could have gotten here soon.”

“Mother.” Luna said bringing a bowl of some bright blue crushed berries. Sylva exchanged it for the jar of ointment.

“Put the ointment on his tail and wrap it.” Sylva said. “Prompto, I’m going to rub this on your chest, it’s going to make you cough up all the nasty fluid in your lungs okay.”

“Fluid?” Cor asked.

“Yes it seemed to have built up. Has he been coughing anything up at all?”

“No.” Cor said. “Should he have been?”

“It would have helped. But this will get it all out in a day or two. He’ll be tired for a few days afterwards, but he’ll recovery quickly.” Sylva said taking the leaf from Prompto’s mouth, then started applying a thin layer of the crushed berries. “He’ll start coughing in about an hour or so but I’ll make sure a healer is with him at all times. This will need to be applied every six hours.”

            Prompto let out a yelp and Luna apologized for hurting his tail, but kept going. Sylva petted Prompto’s head and smiled. “Go on and sleep while you can little one.”

Prompto blinked a couple of times before he fell right to sleep. Sylva stood up and Cor bowed. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

“You’re welcome. Luna can show you to your room once she’s finished.”

“Actually, Your Grace, I was hoping to stay here with Prompto.” Cor said.

“Very well, you may take one of the beds. The healers will be around to assist with anything you may need.” Sylva said.

“Thank you.” Cor said with a bow. Sylva smiled and took her leave and Cor sat down on the next bed over. He kicked his shoes off and laid back feeling the pull of sleep claiming him as well.

            His rest didn’t last long before coughing and crying woke him up. He shot straight up to find Prompto sitting up with two healers by side as he coughed and spat into a bowl one was holding in front of him.

 _“Daddy!_ ” Prompto cried out and Cor quickly moved to his bed began rubbing his back. “ _Daddy, make it stop.”_

Cor hugged Prompto from behind and rubbed his head. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay, we just have to get this stuff out of your lungs.”

_“I’m scared.”_

“There nothing to be scared of. The healers know what they’re doing. And I’m here. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Not again. I swear I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you ever again.”

Prompto coughed and coughed until his voice was raspy and he was too tired to cough anymore. Cor laid them both down and held Prompto close as they both drifted off in a fitful sleep.

 

 

            It took two whole days for Prompto’s fever to break and coughing to end. Then it was another week of bed rest before he was allowed to walk around. Queen Sylva had already started her daily treatments on Noctis’s back and soon she’ll have him trying walk again. Cor had to switch from father back to Kingsguard once Prompto was in the clear, but he made sure to spend his free time with Prompto.

            Nobody except Jared and Luna has visited Prompto. So once he was allowed to leave the healing room, he wasn’t quite sure what he should be doing. He spotted Gladio and Ignis training with Ravus and Nyx, so he avoided them. Jared was busy with Iris, so he didn’t want to bother them. Cor was standing guard over Noctis. He had no idea where Crowe and Libertus were.

            So Prompto walked around until he found a small garden and sat down to look at the pretty flowers. His ears picked up movement behind him and he quickly turned to find a white dog behind him. Slowly the dog approached and Prompto’s hair stood up until the dog laid down next to him. Prompto looked around nervously before placing a hand on the dog’s back and petting it.

“Pryna has taking a liking to you.” Prompto jumped and turned around find tall woman with long black hair standing there.

“Where did you come from?”

She placed a finger over her lips before moving sit on Prompto’s other side. “My name Gentiana. You are Prompto, yes?” Prompto nodded. “For something so small and young, you have a great deal of sadness inside you.”

Prompto petted the dog some more. “Everyone hates me.”

“Those closest to you have merely been misguided. They will correct their path and will come to see you for who you are not the picture painted of you.” Gentiana whispered. “Noctis has much to speak to you about. Would you like me to take you to him?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Then perhaps Gladio first.”

Prompto bit his lip as Gentiana stood up. “Come along young one.”

Pryna sat up and huffed staring at Prompto so he stood up and followed with Pryna on his heel.

            Gentiana led him to the training area where Gladio and Ravus were going at it. Prompto watched as their wooden swords struck one another over and over as they pushed each other back and forth. As they turned Gladio locked eyes with Prompto and froze which was just enough time for Ravus to strike him upside the head. Gladio grunted falling back into the grass.

“Gladio!” Prompto shouted and ran over. Prompto knelt by Gladio as he groaned sitting up. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Gladio said rubbing his head, but then froze and looked away from Prompto. They sat in silence for a moment with Ravus watching before he walked away leaving the two of them alone. “So…how’s your shoulder doing?”

“Oh, it’s almost healed. There’s going to be a scar though.” Gladio winced.

“I’m sorry Prompto. I shouldn’t have hurt you. I… was angry, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. It wasn’t your fault.”

“It’s alright.”

“No it’s not.” Gladio snapped. “It wasn’t okay to treat you that way. I’m supposed to protect you and Noct and Iggy, but instead I ended up hurting you.”

Prompto grabbed Gladio’s hand. “Are we still friends?”

“I want to be.” Gladio said softly. “But can we be after what happened?”

Prompto nodded. “I don’t want you to hate me anymore.”

“I don’t hate you, I never hated you I swear.” Gladio said.

“Then we’re still friends?” Prompto asked.

“Yeah, yeah we’re still friends.”

Prompto smiled and hugged Gladio who for a moment was shocked, but returned the gestured.

“Prompto and Gladio sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g!” Nyx sung out. Gladio quickly pulled away with red cheeks.

“What?” Prompto asked.

“Nothing Prompto, Nyx is just being a jerk.” Gladio called over his shoulder earning laughter from Nyx and head shake from Ignis.

“He is? How?” Prompto cocked his head to the side.

“Never mind. Here.” Gladio said helping Prompto up. “Why don’t we go see Noctis?” Gladio said scratching his head. “He’d probably like to see you.”

“I don’t know…”

“Hey Iggy, let’s take Prompto to Noct’s room!” Gladio shouted.

“Gladdy!” Prompto said then quickly covered his mouth.

“It’s okay, you can call me that again. And Noctis needs to say sorry, too, so let’s go see him cuz he’s too scared to come to you.” Gladio said.

            So they did. Ignis took Prompto’s hand and took him inside the castle with Gladio following close behind. Prompto kept his head down the whole time only looking up when they stopped and he heard a knock. A door in front of them opened up to Cor.

“What are you three doing up here?”

“Prompto wants to talk to Noctis.” Ignis said.

“I don’t think now is the best time.” Cor said, but was pushed aside by Pryna. Noctis was inside holding on to some bars trying to walk when he looked up and saw them. He gasped, losing his grip and failing down.

“Prince Noctis are you okay?” Sylva asked.

“Yeah I’m alright.” Noctis said sitting up.

Sylva seemed to notice their guests and smiled. “Why don’t we take a break? Cor if you would.”

Cor helped Noctis back in his wheelchair as Ignis pulled Prompto inside the room. And the two adults stepped out closing the door behind them. Prompto stood quietly shifting in his spot. He glanced up at Noctis a couple of times before settling his eyes on the floor and Noctis was doing the same thing.

“Didn’t you have something you wanted to say, Noctis?” Ignis asked finally breaking the silence. Both boys jumped and looked at each other.

“I…” Noctis’s voiced wavered and a tear rolled down his cheek. “I am so sorry, Prompto. I’m a bad person. I shouldn’t have yelled at you or blamed you for anything. I lied to the guards and I’m sorry about that too. I’m a bad friend…I…”

            Prompto walked over to Noctis and hugged him tightly. “It’s okay. We’re friends so… so it’s okay. Don’t be sad anymore.” Noctis wrapped his arms around Prompto, crying into his chest so Prompto just stayed there holding him until his crying turned into heavy sniffles.

“Better?” Prompto asked with a small smile.

“A little.” Noctis wiped his nose with his arm. “Dad said I have to work to earn your friendship again.”

“But we’re already friends again.” Prompto said.

Noctis nodded. “But I’m a bad one, so I have to learn to be better. I don’t want bad things to happen to you again. I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

Prompto’s tail flickered a little although it still hurt to do it. But just as he did with Gladio, he grabbed Noctis’s hand. “We’re friends again so no more crying okay.”

Noctis sniffled. “Prompto, I am really, really, _really_ sorry I was so mean to you. I’ll make it up to you okay. I’ll be a good friend again.”

Prompto smiled. “I believe you. I’ll be a better friend too.”

Noctis shook his head. “You’re already a good friend.”

“But…”

“Prompto,” Ignis interjected. “We are the ones who weren’t nice, we’re the ones who have to change, not you. That being said, I’m sorry as well for allowing these two to treat you poorly and for not standing up for you when I should have.”

“It’s okay, really you guys…”

“Prompto it’s really not.” Gladio said. “But we’ll make it up to you. We’ll _make_ it better again. Just don’t say it’s okay again, not yet at least.”

“O-okay.” Prompto mumbled. “Can…can we just hug then?”

“Of course Prompto.” Noctis said holding his arms open. Prompto held him tight and felt Ignis and Gladio joining in. They remain that way for a good while. Until someone’s stomach grumbled and they all started laughing.

            Outside the door, Cor Sylva stood listening to the conversation.

“They’re good boys.” Sylva said.

“Yeah, but I’m still going to give them a hard time for a while.” Cor admitted.

Sylva chuckled. “Have you told them about the letter you received from the king?”

“No need to trouble them with that, it just something that had been dealt with after we left.”

“May I inquire what it was about? You seemed rather pleased when you were reading it.”

Cor arched an eyebrow. “Did I? It wasn’t very pleasant really. This woman name Vera Pax, was a caretaker in the Citadel, she watched over the younger children. She told the children awful things about Prompto that led to him getting hurt and well ultimately sick. Anyways, she was under investigation. Turns out her husband had been killed during the invasion and she took her anger out on the one person she thought deserved it.”

“Prompto.” Sylva said and Cor nodded.

“The King just wrote to me that she was being charged with child neglect and endangerment.”

Sylva hummed. “Well then it seemed that justice was served then.”

“Yeah…I guess it was.” Cor said softly.

 

 

            Four months passed and Noctis regained the use of his legs and was growing stronger every day. When he wasn’t doing his exercises, he and Prompto watched Gladio and Ignis train with each other. Sometimes Nyx and Cor would join in. They didn’t see Crowe and Libertus that much, but when Crowe joined in she made the boys sweat with a good workout.

             Cor was showing Gladio a new defense move when Lunafreya delivered a message from the King. Cor quickly opened it and everyone gathered around him waiting to hear what it said. Cor closed the letter with a sigh.

“We have taken Lucis back.” He said and there was shouts with high fives going around.

“Does this mean we get to go home now?” Noctis asked, hopeful.

Cor nodded. “Regis has made arrangements for our return. We leave the day after tomorrow.”

“Finally!” Noctis stretched then stopped and smiled at Lunafreya. “Sorry Luna, it’s really nice here and you’re family has been great, but…”

“You miss home, I understand. I would feel the same.”

“Since we’re leaving so soon can we spend the rest of the time just visiting?” Prompto asked and they all looked up to Cor with hope filled wide eyes.

He sighed. “Very well.”

“Yay! Yes!” They shouted.

“Luna, you have to show us the fishing spots outside the castle.” Noctis said excitedly.

“We’re in Tenebrae and you want to go fishing?” Nyx asked. “You’re such a weird kid.”

“Can we go outside of the castle and do something fun? Please, Luna, please?” Prompto begged.

“I like how they’re all asking you this and not me.” Cor smirked.

Luna nudged him with her elbow. “It’s only appropriate to escort a Lady around especially with all these children around.”

“I’ll escort you.” Nyx said then flushed when everyone got quiet. “I-I mean…”

“How sweet, thank you Nyx.” Luna said with a smile. “Why don’t we take Prompto and the boys to town and Cor can take Noctis to the fishing spot?”

“Uh, yeah, sh-sure.” Nyx stumbled while Crowe and Libertus snorted behind him earning a glare.

“Why am I getting the lousy part of this deal?” Cor mumbled.

Noctis whined. “But I wanna hang out with Luna, too.”

“How about this,” Luna said kneeling down. “Why don’t we go to town today, then tomorrow we all go to the fishing spot? Then we can go swimming too. How does that sound?”

Noctis smiled. “Okay!”

“Wonderful, let’s get some lunch and get going.” Luna said standing back, taking Noctis’s hand. They all started towards the castle when Cor felt his pants being tugged. He looked down at Prompto who was reaching his hand.

“Can we hold hands, dad?” Prompto asked.

Cor smiled taking his son’s hand. “Of course.”


	4. Ten Years Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was supposed to be just another day of training. Only Cor let Prompto skip school to come along. And that there was an attack. Well more than one at the same time and Cor was a target.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. Summer classes started and on top of that I'm working full time so getting time to write has been difficult. I managed to write this out real fast yesterday. I don't know how I feel about it though. I may come back later when I have more time and do a rewrite on this chapter to add in more details. However, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Also I did a quick edit so there might still be some grammar mistakes here and there. I apologize for that!

_Ten years old_

            Cor yawned as he stretched out to pop his back, his tail curling up behind him. He relaxed with a huff as he walked out of his room and headed down the hallway to start his morning routine. He opened Prompto’s bedroom door to wake him up when he spotted a few tuffs of fur on the floor by the bed. He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge to light the candle on the night stand. When the room lit up he spotted more tuffs on the bed and he quickly pulled the blanket off Prompto’s body. The ten year old boy was curled up sleeping with his tail in his mouth. A few small patches of fur were missing and replaced with spots of blood.

            Cor rubbed his hand over Prompto’s head earning a tired combination of a purr and a meow. Prompto rubbed his head against Cor’s hand before his eyes slowly opened and his tail fell from his mouth. He sat up rubbing his eyes, tail twitching along with his ears.

“Mornin, dad.” Prompto said softly.

“Prompto,” Cor sighed gently tapping his son’s tail. “You’re doing it again.”

Prompto pulled his tail away and placed it in his lap looking down. “Sorry.”

“We’ve talked about this. Hey, look at me.” Cor said softly while lifting Prompto’s chin. “Don’t apologize for your anxiety attacks. Okay?” Prompto nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Prompto shifted nervously carefully petting his tail instead of pulling at it. “I had another dream.”

“A nightmare you mean?” Cor asked and Prompto nodded. “About what?”

“Everybody hating me again. You hating me.” Prompto swallowed hard. “Noctis said I couldn’t be a Lucian anymore. In the dream I mean.”

Cor nodded. “Anything else?”

“Gladio and Iggy said that they…that they never wanted to see me again.” Prompto whimpered squeezing his tail.

“Hey,” Cor gently pulled Prompto’s hands away and held them in his own, rubbing his thumbs over Prompto’s little fingers. “It wasn’t real. It was only a nightmare. You don’t believe your friends would say those things to you, do you?” When Prompto shook his head, Cor gave a rare smile. “See then there’s nothing to worry about. I know you know I would never hate you, right?”

“Right.” Prompto smiled up squeezing Cor’s hands.

“Right, let’s get you cleaned up and ready for school.” Cor said standing up, only letting one of Prompto’s hands go so they could walk to the bathroom together.

            Cor had Prompto sit on the sink while he cleaned and bandaged his son’s tail. He looked over Prompto noting how his spots were darkening on his neck and the small freckles on his cheeks were starting to combine. In a few years they’ll be darker and more defined across his face. Cor could also tell Prompto’s bottom eyelid was becoming darker as well. His tear duct was already black with a small downward line was already forming. Prompto’s tear lines will be more prominent when he hits puberty. Cor rubbed his thumb under Prompto’s eye noticing the unnatural shadow and puffiness.

            “Hey, I got an idea. How would you feel about skipping school and hanging out with me today? You can help me train the crownsguard. Be my next in command for the day.”

Prompto’s eye lit up and his smile grew as he looked up. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Cor said and Prompto quickly nodded with his body already fidgeting with nervous excitement. “Alright go get ready.”

            Prompto quickly hopped off the counter and ran out to his room while Cor put everything away. He noticed a tuff of fur laying on the floor and picked it up with a deep frown. He thought about all the times this has happened over the years and even though it has become less frequent for Prompto to pull his fur out, it still worries Cor constantly. In the past couple of years, Prompto’s fur has taken longer and longer to grow back. The last time it took Prompto’s tail nearly two months to fully regrow its fur.

“Who knows how long this time will take?” Cor mumbled tossing the fur into the trashcan. He walked to change already knowing his son would be waiting impatiently by the front door for him if he didn’t speed up.

            On Prompto’s tenth birthday, Regis had his tailor make Prompto an honorary kingsguard training uniform that matched Cor’s. Loose black pants, black shirt with cut off sleeves that tucked into his pants, with a long black and grey jacket. The jacket had his insignia on the back and smaller version over the right side of his chest which was a roaring lion’s head with two swords lined up behind it holding up a crown. It represented Cor’s protection of the crown and that he’d always stand between a threat and his king. The only difference to Prompto’s uniform was that his insignia was a baby chocobo still sitting in its egg with a lion laying around it. Instead of a sword that Cor always carried, Prompto was given a replica wooden sword so that they could match complete. Regis had too much fun with the present.

            Cor didn’t mind it though, because whenever Prompto put the uniform on, he smiled brightly as he walked tall with his shoulders squared which was vastly different from when he often walked with his head down, or when he would physically hide behind someone else. Usually either Cor, Gladio or Ignis. Never Noctis though. He remembered Prompto saying no matter how scared he was, his job was to protect Noctis just like Gladio and Ignis would. Prompto’s dream was to be like Cor, to be brave and strong enough to be able to protect his friends. Cor had Prompto tight that day burying his face in his son’s shoulder, mainly to hide the proud tears in his eyes.

            So walking down the Citadel hallways with Prompto next to him in his little kingsguard training outfit made every choice Cor has made worth it. Prompto looked up at him and gave him a large smile. Yeah, definitely worth letting him skip school for this.

 

            On the way, they ran into Clarus and Regis walking with several other guards. Cor stopped and bowed with Prompto following suit. “Your highness.”

“Cor.” Regis nodded then smiled at Prompto. “Prompto, joining your dad with training today?”

Prompto nodded looking up with his wide, tired eyes. He reached out grabbing Cor’s pants and moving over to stand behind him. Regis chuckled. He looked back at Cor. “Has Scientia given you the meeting times for the Omega Festival preparations?”

Cor nodded. “I reviewed them. I should be able to work my train schedule around them. I’ve already made a list of the guards qualified for the event. Scientia should already have it.”

“Excellent. And will you be participating this year, my friend?” Regis asked wiggling his eyebrows.

Cor shook his head, patting Prompto’s head. “I have everything I want. Leave the festival for the young ones.”

“As if you’re an old man.” Clarus chuckled. “There’s nothing wrong with getting yourself an omega. Could help you out from time to time.”

“I’m content the way I am.” Cor said. “What about you?”

Clarus gave a small smile. “I can’t see myself being with anybody else after…” There was a pained look in Clarus’s eyes, but he quickly cleared his throat. “Besides Jared is helping me with Gladio and Iris so it’s not that difficult.”

Cor nodded. “What about you, your highness?”

Regis chuckled shaking his head. “I don’t think so. I guess we’re all going to remain bachelors.”

“Not that bad.” Cor said. He felt a tug at his pant leg.

            “Dad?” Prompto spoke. “What’s the omega festival?”

“Uhh…” Cor looked to Regis and Clarus who were chuckling. “It’s a festival…where we celebrate Omegas.”

“What’s an omega?” Prompto asked.

“I guess it’s time for the _talk_ ” Regis said.

“No.” Cor said pointing to his king. “No. There’s not going to be _the talk_ for many more years.”

“Careful it’ll jump at you.” Clarus said. “I’ve already talked to Gladiolus about it.”

“Already?” Cor asked.

“I’ve spoken to Noctis as well.” Regis said. “It’s better to prepare them before it happens you know.”

“But how do I know which to talk about?” Cor asked.

“Tell him everything.” Clarus said with a shrug. “That’s what I did.”

“Agreed.” Regis said.

“What do they mean dad?” Prompto asked.

“Good luck.” Clarus chuckled.

“Have fun.” Regis added as they both walked away. Leaving Cor with a confused Prompto.

Cor scratched the back of his head. “It’s nothing…I mean it’s something. It may be better to talk to you about it later…after dinner.”

Prompto frowned. “But…”

“After dinner okay, we’ll talk about it.”

“Alright.” Prompto mumbled.

“Hey, I promise, I’ll tell you about it, but we need to get moving before we’re late okay.”

“Okay.”

 

            They arrived at the training hall finding all the crownsguard standing at attention inside. Cor noted some of them eyeing Prompto before looking straight ahead again. It wasn’t unusual that he brought Prompto every once in a while. Most of the time training was a lot livelier with his crownsguard leaving with tired smiles instead of neutral or upset expressions. They were all wearing loose black pants and sleeveless black shirts each with crownguard insignia on the right side of the chest. Typical training uniforms.

            Cor sat his sword against the wall and Prompto did the same earning a smirk from Cor who quickly put on his serious face and turned around to face his crownsguard. Prompto followed suit as they walked to stand in front of the twenty men and women.

“Pick a weapon and a partner, we’re starting with sparing today.” Cor announced.

 

            Prompto would follow Cor as he studied each pairing that was sparing and listen as Cor made a comment before ordering them to go again. Sometimes he would yell at someone for not paying attention or playing. Sometimes Prompto would do it then look up at Cor to make sure he was yelling for the right thing. Cor would agree or he would correct Prompto and allow him to try again. The crownsguard played along. When Cor spotted Prompto yawning and rubbing his eyes, he called for a five minute break which seemed to bring relief to everyone. They always got a couple extra breaks when Prompto was around. As the crownsguard scattered to get water, Cor walked Prompto to the benches.

            “Would you like to lay down for a minute?” Cor asked. Prompto looked down with his tired eyes and gave a small nod, so Cor knelt down and rubbed his son’s head. “Hey, you had a rough night so it’s okay to be tired. Go ahead and take a nap. When you wake, I’ll teach you a couple of moves okay?”

“Okay.” Prompto mumbled. He climbed the bench and laid on his side. Cor rubbed Prompto’s head, making him purr, and not much longer his eyes shut. Cor took his jacket off and covered Prompto up only to have him curl up and bury his face in the fabric. Cor smiled watching his son sleep for a moment.

            Sensing eyes were on him, Cor turned and saw his crownsguard either smiling, trying not to smile, or hiding their smiles. He glared at them all making them all look away. “This will be good practice for stealth fighting. Take down your partner as quietly and quickly as possible. If you make a noise that’s ten laps. If you wake up Prompto…that’s fifty laps. Start.”

 

            Cor stood with his hands behind his back watching the last of the group performing their one on one as the rest were sitting, some laying, catching their breathes. The last two were going back and forth trying to hit, but trying to be quiet at the same time. Cor’s ear twitched when he heard movement and glanced over to find Prompto sitting up on his bench yawning. Cor focused back on the two hitting each other, the female quickly grabbing her male counterpart and slamming him on the ground. Cor clapped his hands once.

“Alright, clean up, we are finished for the day.” Cor said and spun to walk over to Prompto who was now rubbing his eyes. His ears twitched as Cor approached. Prompto let out a teary yawn and flicked his tail.

“Dad, I’m hungry.” Prompto mumble.

“Alright, we’ll get some lunch soon. Let me just dismiss these guys and we’ll go out for something.”

Prompto smiled with a nod as handed Cor’s jacket back over and stood up. Cor slipped his jacket on and they both walked to the two lines the crownsguard formed. Cor gave his praise and told them to keep it up before dismissing them. They all stood at attention placing their fists over their chest and bowing before dispersing and leaving the training room.

            Cor knelt down next to Prompto. “What would you like to eat today?”

Prompto rocked on his feet humming. “Daggerquil!”

Cor chuckled. “Do you want some from town or would you like it from the citadel kitchen?”

“I want…” Prompto hummed. “The daggerquil from last week. When we went shopping and stopped by the food stall. You know which one I’m talking about?”

“I remember. That sounds like a great idea.” Cor said straightening up and reaching out his hand. Prompto happily grabbed it.

            They door to the training room swung open and Cor turned just as a knife flew into his thigh. He grunted as four masked figures ran in, the lead one throwing knives in their direction. Cor quickly turned hugging Prompto, protecting him as the knives pierced his back. Cor grunted and dropped his hand to the floor.

“Dad!” Prompto cried out.

“Run Prompto!” Cor growled twisting around as the four charged his way. The first one got to him first, but Cor easily blocked the masked man from stabbing him again and quickly disarmed him. Cor took the knife stabbing the man in the neck just as the other three attacked. Dodging and blocking became difficult with the three knives in his back and the one in his thigh. One of the masked men was actually a woman and she had no problem stabbing Cor in the stomach while he was preoccupied with the other two. The smaller of the other two stabbed Cor in the shoulder before grabbing his arm as the woman grabbed his other arm. The largest of the three stood in front of him raising a knife. Cor’s vision was beginning to waver.

            “Stop it!” Prompto yelled jumping onto the large man’s shoulder and biting his neck.

“No, Prompto!” Cor yelled, but it was too late. The large man grabbed Prompto by the head and yanked him off. Prompto cried out as he was held up by his head and hair.

“Tch, little brat. Should have went to school like a good boy.” The man growled before throwing Prompto into the wall. There was a loud crack and Cor stared wide eyed as Prompto laid motionless on the floor with blood slowly pooling around his head.

“No…” Cor gasped, his head starting to spin. The larger man scoffed and walked over to Prompto and Cor found it increasingly difficult to hold his head up. His whole body was feeling numb and it felt like he was starting to suffocate.

“The poison is already working” The woman said pulling Cor’s head back.

‘Poison?’ Cor thought. ‘No wonder…’

            The larger man’s attention was on Cor now and waved his hand. The two let Cor’s arms go so that the only thing holding him up was the woman’s grip on his head. The larger man pulled his mask off revealing a bald headed tiger, his left ear looked as if it had been partially ripped off. He had three black stripes on both sides of his face along his chin, mid-cheek and upper cheek. He also had stripes rising from his neck to the top of his head. He looked familiar, but Cor was having a hard time placing a name to the face. Obviously the tiger was from the Myrlwoods tribe, but other than that Cor couldn’t remember.

“Right about now, your king and his little follows are being killed. The prince and his little classmates are being slaughtered. And here you are, the Immortal Marshal unable to do anything to stop it.”

            Prompto let out a soft meow as his body shifted. The tiger looked down at Prompto as he started to sit up, tears running down his cheeks mixing with blood. The tiger grabbed Prompto’s bloody head and picked him up making him cry out.

“Sto..p…” Cor gasped out. The tiger placed his knife against Prompto’s neck. “No!”

The tiger tapped Prompto’s neck making him twitch and whimper. Prompto reached up, grabbing the man’s arm and kicking out his legs. “You know, my son died four years ago fighting against Niflheim. My daughter was killed last year by a rogue crownsguard that you trained. The crown has taken so much from me. And for what? A peace treaty with Niflheim. I lost my family to this war…for nothing.”

“For…peace...” Cor gasped out.

“Peace?” The man scoffed. “They were just pawns in a game you people like to play.”

“Soldiers…” Cor gasped..

“Pawns.” The tiger’s voice broke. “My son was a pawn and my daughter…my daughter…”

“Lucia…” Cor gasped his voice was losing strength. “…and her…brother Lysimachus…. I remember…named after … Lucis… and … your grandfather. I remember…all of… them…I …”

The man growled. “You think that means anything? That you remember the dead?”

“I failed…them…” Cor gasped. “I’m sorry…”

“Sorry…” The man scoffed. “Yeah you will be.”

            The tiger turned his knife and sliced Prompto’s inner thigh. Prompto screamed out and Cor roared. “ _No!”_

Cor was gasping, listening to Prompto whimper and claw at the man’s hand. “D… _dad!_ ”

Cor roared grabbing the woman’s hand and twisting it until snapped. She screamed out, but Cor grabbed the knife she had sheathed and stabbed her up through her jaw just as he was pulled back by the other. Cor pulled the knife out spun around slicing the other man’s throat. There was a loud gurgle as he fell and Cor struggled to stay up right. The tiger…Titus, Cor remembers now, dropped Prompto. Prompto let out a small whimper as he curled up in a ball holding his leg, but the blood was still spreading and fast.

“It must hurt to watch your son die.” Titus said. “I didn’t even get the chance to say good bye to mine. I just got a body returned to me. You’ll know what it’s like to only have a body for a son left.”

            Titus moved down to stab Prompto this time, but Cor jumped on him with the last of his strength. Cor was easily thrown onto the ground, driving the knives in his back even deeper. He gasped out trying to roll over, but Titus pressed his foot on Cor’s chest trapping him. He pressed down harder and Cor yelled out as the knives pressed into his body more. He felt blood coming out of his mouth and it became increasingly harder to breath. There was a grunt from above him.

            Cor blinked away the blurriness and followed Titus’s line of sight down to where Prompto was biting his ankle.

“Fucking brat.” Titus said reaching down to grab Prompto by his hair. Prompto cried out, stilling from the grip. Cor felt the hot tears running down his face as he watched the blood dripping from Prompto’s body.

“Da…” Prompto whimpered.

“Close… your eyes.” Cor grounded out. “I love you.”

Prompto squeezed his eyes shut and Cor lifted his hand pointing his knife at Titus who was placing his own blade to Prompto’s neck. “This is your father’s fault.” Titus said.

            A flash of blue appeared and Cor blinked. Titus wasn’t standing above him anymore. Cor slowly sat up. Prompto was on the floor, so Cor quickly dragged himself close enough to pull Prompto in his arms. There was another flash of blue in the corner of his eye. Cor could make out the sound of fighting and yelling. There were more footsteps. Cor couldn’t keep track of them all. He merely tightened his hold Prompto’s body as the darkness that’s been on edge of his sight finally took over.

 

            His mouth was dry. That was what came to mind. His mouth was dry, his throat was sore, and his head was killing him. He groaned trying speak, but a strange grunt came out. Was that from him? He could hear someone speaking to him. He couldn’t really understand them though. After darkness came and went again he felt the same dryness. This time though he could feel his eyes too. They were heavy. He tried to speak and someone was there talking to him again. Six, his head was killing him.

“..ome on, Cor.”

He grunted again this time, finally forcing his eyes to open. It was blurry and bright. He blinked several times as the person beside kept tell him to wake up. He was awake wasn’t he?”

            After a moment, things began to clear up and the figure next to him was now over him. The blurriness straightened out until suddenly he was looking into Regis’s eyes.

“Yo-Your highness.” Cor whispered.

“Glad to see you’re back with us.” Regis said with a smile. Cor lifted his hand and rubbed his head for a moment before looking around. He was in the healing hall. He turned his head spotting Prompto lying a bed that was pressed up against his own. Cor’s eyes widen seeing his son covered up sleeping. His head was wrapped up and his hand were like two balls of bandages. Cor quickly sat up only for a sharp pain to go through his body. Hands quickly pushed him back down.

            “Careful. You’re still recovering.” Regis said. “Prompto’s all right. Merely sleeping.”

“He was hurt.” Cor’s voice broke and Regis nodded. “Bleeding out…”

“Yes, but he’s made a full recovery.” Regis said. “You, however, have not so take it easy okay.”

“What happened?” Cor finally asked.

“A rebel group planned out an attack against the crown. The survivors claimed it was to stop the peace treaty that’s in the works and to get revenge for those that were killed in the war. They wanted peace, but they want Lucis to invade and destroy Niflheim. Quite a contradictory motive. But they were willing to destroy the Caelum line for it to happen. Obviously it didn’t work. A couple of school kids were injured, and we lost two crownsguard. We almost lost you and Prompto as well.”

“How…” Cor started, but Regis raised his hand to quiet him.

“After the alert sounded of an attack, Nyx and his team were heading my way when they heard you fighting. He and his men intervened, stopping Titus from killing you both. He managed to stint the bleeding on Prompto’s leg and get you both to the healers in time.”

            “How is Prompto doing?” Cor asked looking at his son.

“He had a nicked artery, but the healers were able to fix it and gave him regular doses of potions to help the healing process. Like I said he’s made a full recovery. You have been out for a little over two weeks though. You took a lot of damage, the healers were working on you for about seven hours. The daggers that were used had been laced with poison, so your recovery has been slow. For a few days though… we thought you were going to die.” Regis said the last part softly.

Cor stared at the bandages on Prompto’s hands. Thinking. Trying to remember how his hands got hurt but he was drawing a blank. Did he get hit in the head at some point, too? “His hands…”

“Hmm?” Regis hummed, then answered. “Oh, that, no his hands are fine.”

“Then why are they wrapped up?” Cor asked. When he didn’t get an answer he turned to find Regis looking at the floor. He growl a little. “Your Highness?”

            Regis took a deep breath. “When Prompto was well enough to be moved, the healers suggested that he stay somewhere else…in case you passed. They didn’t think it Prompto should see it and I agreed, so I took him to my chambers to stay with Noctis for the time being. The next morning I went to wake the boys up…” Regis took another deep breath. “I found Prompto huddled up in the corner. He had pulled all the fur from his tail and was chewing on it. He’d also been pulling the fur from his ears and his hair out when I had found him. I tried to get him to stop, but it was like he didn’t realize I was there. When I got him to come to, he started crying saying he was having nightmares.

            “I brought him back to the healers to get him bandaged up and all he wanted was to be near you. The healers told him he couldn’t and sent him away. I kept an eye on him, but I found him in the middle of the night scratching at the walls. At first I thought he was angry, but it turned out he was sleep walking…having a nightmare at the same time. He was trying to get away from some monster. His hands were fine though, no injuries to them, I had him checked just in case. The next night I found him by the front door crying. He’d pull more of his hair out and had chewed through the bandages on his tail.

            “I told the healers he needed to be with you and they placed him in a bed next to yours. They wrapped his hands up so he wouldn’t try to pull at his hair out again. He kept waking up screaming from a nightmares. They’ve been having to give him medicine to help him sleep at night, which has made him sleep more in the day time too.”

            Through the whole explanation, Cor was clenching his fists and holding back his tears. Not only was he not there for Prompto, but he was cause of his stress as well. “Regis.”

“Yes?”

“Could you bring him closer to me?” Cor asked. Regis gave a nod and carefully lifted Prompto up and moved him over. He was so out of it, he didn’t even stir from the movement. Cor carefully turned on his side and pulled Prompto closer to his body. Prompto let out a soft chirp and curled up against Cor’s chest. Cor held him close, clenching his eyes shut.

“I failed.” He whispered.

“Cor…” Regis said.

“I was supposed to protect him. I promised…” Cor said. “I wasn’t able to.”

“When Noctis was attacked and Aulea was killed, I felt like I had failed to protect them. I was a husband, father, the king for Six sake, and yet I couldn’t stop it from happening. I couldn’t protect them. I’m the most powerful man in this kingdom and yet my son had lost the ability to walk and my wife…my mate was taken from me forever.” Regis grabbed Cor’s shoulder. “We can’t always protect those we love no matter how strong we are, no matter how hard we try. We can only do our best to ensure their safety. You have done that, Cor. This was a close call, but you both made it through.”

Cor squeezed his eyes shut. “If Nyx hadn’t come…”

“But he did. Do not fret on what ifs when you need to deal with what’s important now. You’re both alive, healing and soon you’ll both be healthy again.”

“But at what cost?” Cor said. “Prompto’s anxiety is already bad enough and now this…it’s going to be so much worse now.”

            “We’ll deal with it one day at time.” Regis said. “Prompto will need time to process this and to recover as do you. You may be the Immortal Cor Leonis, the Marshal of Insomnia, cold and strict trainer of the crownsguard, but you still have emotions like the rest of us. Heal up. Spend time with Prompto when you’re both out of here. You both will need it.”

            Cor kept quiet rubbed his hand over Prompto’s bandaged head. Regis patted Cor’s shoulder. “Get some rest. We’ll take everything one day at a time and today you need to get some more sleep.”

Cor let out a deep breathe, but closed his eyes tightening his hold on Prompto just a little more. One day at a time.  

            Easier said than done.


End file.
